One Week In Paris
by Bellarsam Chrisjulittle
Summary: AU. One part for each of the seven day of the week - no more, no less. Not what you would expect by the title, but is still a good story of my favorite movie couple.
1. Monday

**Monday**

The argument can be made that the French capital of Paris is magical no matter the time of day (or night) or the month of the year. But perhaps a stronger argument could be made that the month of May there – while anywhere – is among the most lovely. Late spring providing just enough warmth so as not to be stifling, and the occasional rains that refresh the ever-blooming flowers. Because it was not yet summer, the city was not as full of tourists as it would be in the coming months. And, of course, to add to all of this, the history and romance of the city itself.

For Captain Georg Von Trapp, all that mattered to him was that this was one of the few places left in the world that he had been before and carried no memories that he wanted to run away from.

He arrived in Paris early that morning, and checked out a small room at the Ritz that was still luxurious, as all of the rooms there were. It didn't take him long to unpack his clothes and few personal belongings he had brought with him. Once that was done, Georg opened the doors onto the balcony of his rooms and stood outside. The air was perfect – not too warm, not too cold, not too strong of a breeze. And the view of both the city and the Seine River was absolutely gorgeous in the late morning light.

This was more than enough invitation for Georg, who knew that spending time alone in his room – if he weren't sleeping – would be spent brooding. He did enough brooding already in the past three years.

So, after stripping himself of his blazer and tie, Georg pocketed his room key and headed out of the hotel. He didn't really have any type of destination; he just wanted to walk around the city he had not been to in twenty years, reacquaint himself with the architecture and the street-names. He had no real fear of being lost, for he spoke French very well and he could always hail a cab.

He hadn't been walking that long when he began to turn a corner, his eyes looking up at the building across the street and the particularly beautiful stone it was made of, when suddenly–

Collision. "Oooof!"

Georg managed not to stumble or fall, but that could not be said for the person he had collided with – or, he was sure it was a person, for a person must be carrying those big boxes which, as it turns out, were full of fabrics. He saw this as the boxes fell to the pavement, some of the contents spilling out.

Once he regained his senses somewhat, Georg looked down to see the person he had knocked to the ground. She – for the blue dress and feminine hands told him it was a female – was on her knees, putting the fabric back into the respective boxes, examining them to make sure none were damaged. She was muttering furiously to herself.

"Oh, _mademoiselle, _please forgive me," said Georg in French, genuinely remorseful as he cursed himself for having his head so high in the clouds. He immediately crouched down to help her, and as he did, her muttering became comprehensible.

"Never paying attention, I'm such a klutz and carrying big things just increases my chances of accidents…"

Georg looked at the golden head of hair (the face was still hidden from him) and his eyes widened in surprise. She was not speaking French, but German with a distinct Austrian accent.

Deciding to try and get her attention in a better way, he asked in his native tongue, "Are you all right, Fraulein?"

_This _got her attention, and her head shot up right away. Their eyes met and they both seemed to catch their breath, especially Georg. He'd never seen a more beautiful pair of eyes on so lovely a face before. She was young, in her early twenties at most, holding this fresh innocence he hadn't seen on the face of any woman in Vienna. Such innocence and beauty he had never seen before. He would never remember how he managed to give a small smile and say, "Hello."

The young woman's eyes were wide, those beautiful big blue eyes, in surprise. But after a moment she blinked, blushed the slightest bit, and returned his greeting and hesitant smile with one of her own. "Hello."

The spell seemed to break as both broke eye contact and the sounds of the city came back to them. The young woman resumed her task, and Georg helped as best he could. She tried to protest but Georg did not stop, so she stopped trying to deter him.

Once each fabric was in its box again, Georg looked at the young woman and spoke, still in their native tongues. "Are you all right, really? I am so sorry for this –"

"Oh, no, it's not your fault, sir," she said hastily. "I'm always daydreaming and never paying attention to what I'm doing, I should have seen you coming – ouch!" She had attempted to take one of the boxes, but her left hand recoiled. The young woman clenched her teeth in mild pain.

"What is it?" said Georg, slightly panicked, wondering what damage he had done. He reached out his hands. "Let me see."

The young woman hesitated, then slowly reached out her hand, mumbling that it was nothing. Georg gingerly cupped her hand, and looked at her palm. The only thing wrong was a scrape across the lower palm, one of those that is not at all serious and heals fairly quickly but is quite a pain.

Without thinking twice, Georg pulled out his handkerchief from his breast-pocket and pressed it to her scrape before it began to bleed.

The young woman hissed in pain and said, "Oh, please don't, that's really not –"

"I insist," said Georg, already tying his handkerchief around her hand. "Make sure to clean that right away so you will not get an infection." Hesitantly, he let go of her hand once he was finished.

He was glad that she didn't tear it off but instead gave him a grateful smile and said, "Thank you, I will."

Georg returned her smile and helped her to her feet, and then helped get the boxes back in her arms. Both stood there for a moment in awkward silence, not really knowing what to say or do. All Georg knew was that he did not want her to walk away, anonymous, and disappear, never to be seen again. Who was she? Why was she, a young Austrian woman, living in Paris? He didn't even know her name!

His quick-thinking brain came up with an idea from a memory, and before he could stop himself, he spoke. "Please let me make this accident up to you, Fraulein, somehow. I believe there is a place called Café de Flore on St Germain; may I take you for a cup of tea or coffee to show my apologies?"

The young woman's eyes widened again, surprised by his request. Her mouth gaped open for a moment and she seemed unsure about what to do. Her eyes darted away as she thought. "Oh, sir, you've already helped me more than enough, it's really not necessary –"

"Actually, I believe there _is _a necessity," said Georg lightly. "You still have my handkerchief."

He smiled at her, and, after a moment, she smiled back. Their gazes caught again, and Georg held onto it tightly. Though he had just teased her a little, he wanted to reassure her that his motives were completely pure, and that she would be in no danger with him. This he tried to convey in his powerful gaze to her.

As she blushed ever so slightly, she took a deep breath after another moment of silence and said, "Well, I have work until five o'clock."

"After you're done with work, then. I'll meet you there."

"There is only one problem left then, sir."

"And that is what, Fraulein?"

She smiled wryly at him. "_Who are you?_"

Now Georg was the one to blush – or nearly blush – and he chuckled self-consciously. Meeting her eyes again, he said, "Georg."

Her smile softened a little. "Georg," she said, trying it out. Georg felt himself go a little weak at the knees hearing her say his name. "All right, I will be there if you will be there."

"Thank you, Fraulein," said Georg, smiling. "Are you going to be all right with those boxes?"

Maria laughed and nodded. "Oh, yes. I work just round the corner. And this time I'll pay attention."

They shared a laugh, and then she moved around him saying, "Have a good day, Georg."

"Fraulein!" he called after her, realizing something.

"Yes?" she asked, pausing in her steps and turning her head.

After taking a moment to himself to look at all of her – sensible shoes, modest blue dress, small healthily skinny form, lovely face, short golden hair, and big blue eyes – he asked, "May I know whom I'll be meeting at the Café de Flore?"

The young woman looked at him a moment, gave a small smile, and said, "Maria," before turning around and heading away. Georg watched her disappear into the crowd coming up the sidewalk. When it cleared she was gone.

* * *

The reason Maria was able to disappear like that was because she indeed worked just around the corner. The dress boutique she worked in was on the street Georg had been walking down before turning the corner and colliding with her. It was a small shop, but it did good work and made good money. In the year Maria had worked there, she was able to make a very good living for herself.

Holding on tightly to the boxes, Maria used her back to push open the shop's front door, the little bell above announcing her arrival. She said a greeting to Madame Genevieve Chaput, the widowed owner and designer of the boutique, who always ran the front desk. "Those new fabrics all accounted for, Maria?" she asked, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear.

"Yes, Madame," said Maria. "I checked them before I left."

Madame Chaput nodded, satisfied, and returned to her books. Maria made her way to a door and pushed her way through, into the spacious workroom where she and three other young women worked as seamstresses: Adele, Therese and Nicole.

"Maria!" exclaimed Adele, rushing to Maria to help her with the boxes. "Let's see our new materials."

As the four women unpacked the fabrics and put them with the others, while properly labeling them, it was Nicole who noticed the handkerchief. "Maria, what happened? Did you get hurt?"

Maria looked down at her bandaged hand, and the memory of what had happened when turning the corner flooded her mind – making her blush.

"She's blushing," said Adele, who was putting her loose auburn curls into a loose bun and smiling mischievously. "That means something embarrassing happened or something involving the opposite sex."

This second option made Maria blush even more and Adele caught it with a squeal, pointing at Maria. "It's the latter! Come on, tell us what's happened!" She and Nicole led Maria to her work-station and sat her down. They knelt in front of her, while Therese just stood by Maria with a small hand on her shoulder, quiet reassurance and curiosity.

Knowing that her friends would not let her off the hook, Maria smiled exasperatedly and began. "Well, I was just turning the corner onto our street – not paying attention, as usual – and collided with someone, sending me and the boxes to the ground. My hand got scraped a little, but none of the fabrics got ruined."

"So you collided with this man and that hurled you to the ground?" asked Adele, who laughed. "Typical Maria."

Everyone, including Maria, laughed. "There really isn't much else to tell, you know. He was very apologetic, polite, and nice. He offered me his handkerchief to cover the scrape I got on my hand, even though it was quite minor."

"I'll get the first-aid kit," said Therese, giving Maria's shoulder a squeeze before her petite form disappeared into the supply closet.

"Tell us about him," said Nicole, fixing Maria with her curious emerald eyes. With her wild, raven curls, everyone who knew her firmly believed she had gypsy blood in her veins. "You must have been impressed, or you wouldn't still be blushing after what you describe as an ordinary encounter."

Maria had always liked Nicole, but the insight she possessed often kept Maria and Adele on their toes. "He…was older than me, late thirties or early forties, maybe, but he…no, I can't deny it, he was very handsome. Tall, strong jaw, olive skin, dark hair with a bit of grey, and these blue eyes that…" Maria let her voice drift before she let herself be anymore embarrassed.

"What was his name?" asked Adele.

"Georg," replied Maria. "I didn't get his last name."

"Georg?" Adele awkwardly pronounced the name, having difficulty because of her French pronunciation. "Doesn't sound French."

"Because he's not from France," said Maria, a slight smile on her face. "He's Austrian, like me. He heard me muttering to myself as I picked up the fabrics and addressed me in German; his accent was the same as mine."

Therese, who had returned as was working on Maria's hand, said, "Maria, that must be wonderful, to meet someone from your homeland after being here for over a year."

Adele looked both delighted and annoyed with this news. "Oh, Maria! A man from your own home country, and you just let him go on his way?" When she saw Maria blush again, Adele gasped. "You're going to see him again? Please tell me you are!"

Maria nodded. "I'm meeting him for coffee after work."

Adele and Nicole cheered, and Therese smiled at her, gently squeezing her newly bandaged hand. "Maria, how wonderful!" said Nicole, smiling. "I'm so glad you're finally giving yourself a chance at this."

"Honestly, the fact that he is Austrian really does help, because, if nothing else, I can ask how things are in my home country." This statement brought a new sense of reassurance to Maria, or at least a semblance of it.

They did not discuss the matter all through lunch or through the afternoon; Maria was glad to focus on her work so her mind could fully process what had happened today. Certainly not something she had expected to happen today. It took a monumental effort to keep her concentration on her work, for her mind was buzzing with questions.

Near the end of her shift, Therese sat beside Maria at her work station and spoke to her in her quiet voice, so Adele and Nicole did not hear her. "You're distracted. Are you all right? You know, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. I could take him the handkerchief for you."

"No, no, nothing like that," said Maria, glad it was Therese asking the questions and not one of the others. Though she loved Adele and Nicole dearly for different reasons, Therese was special. She had been the first friend Maria had made upon coming to Paris, and helped her get a job at the boutique. She was also naturally shy, quiet, wise and kind, making the perfect friend and confidante. Maria took a deep breath and explained in a low voice, "It's the opposite. I find myself really looking forward to it. Which confuses me and almost frightens me. I have no experience with men, and I've never felt this way about any man, even something as small as this."

Therese smiled in understanding, squeezing Maria's hand. "Just be yourself, Maria. He must like you, or he wouldn't have asked to see you again. After all, a handkerchief is just a handkerchief, something easily replaceable."

Maria slowly nodded. "You have a point."

"I know that this is a completely new area for you, given what I know of your past, but the Maria I know isn't hesitant about an adventure. Think of it that way."

Maria managed a weak chuckle and nodded. "Can I call you when I get home?"

"Of course."

* * *

Georg had spent the afternoon not knowing what to do with himself. If someone had told him he had walked every street of Paris in a single afternoon, he wouldn't have been surprised. By the time four o'clock came, he realized that he should get back to the hotel and freshen up, or else Maria would be disgusted immediately.

Maria…_Maria…_her name was so lovely, and it fit her like a glove. He couldn't stop thinking about her, wondering about her, get her face out of his mind. And he was flabbergasted by that.

When had he ever had a reaction like this to a woman? This instant intriguing, spellbound…attraction? Certainly not since…It was hard even to think her name at times. Certainly he couldn't be feeling anything akin to what he'd felt for…anything that had led to that. One couldn't feel something so powerful again, could they? And if they could, Georg wasn't sure he wanted to.

_Georg, you are getting ahead of yourself. You've only had one five-minute interaction with her. _

Perhaps he had been struck by her because she, like him, was an Austrian in Paris. _But the whole point of this impromptu getaway was to get _away _from Austria and the memories it holds…but she is the perfect compromise. Something from the homeland I adore but having nothing to do with my past. A perfect win-win._

This Maria could provide him with the distraction he needed, in whatever form that may take. And all he knew was that he couldn't wait to see her again, to learn more about her, this Maria.

So, after showering and changing into another suit, Georg called a cab which took him to the Café de Flore at five o'clock. He knew Maria would not be there yet, so it gave him a chance to snatch a table for two and mentally prepare himself. The weather being as gorgeous as it had been that morning, he picked a table outside and ordered himself a small pot of tea. He wondered what Maria would order, and, just in case, he order an extra cup for her.

As the minutes passed, he was wishing he had brought a book or a paper with him, but even if he had, he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it. So he subtlety watched the people approaching the café, keeping an eye out for her blue dress and golden hair.

At twenty past five, just as he was wondering if she would take a cab or walk here, Georg saw her coming up the street. Her face was nearly covered with a book she was engrossed in, and yet she managed to weave through the people around her effortlessly. He added another reason why he was so intrigued by her to his list.

When she came to the café, Maria stopped and lowered the book. She looked around nervously and finally spotted Georg. Their eyes met, and Maria felt her heart flutter while Georg felt his hands turn a little clammy. He rose from the table and gave her what he hoped was a kind, reassuring smile. Maria approached him, hoping her own smile did not reflect her nervousness. "Hello again," she said, glad her voice didn't shake – too much.

In response, Georg took her hand and kissed the back of it. Maria willed herself not to blush, but she wasn't sure she succeeded completely. When Georg moved around the table to pull out her chair for her, she said, "Thank you," and sat down.

Georg moved back to his seat and sat down. "Would like a cup of tea, or a coffee, or something else?"

"Oh, no, tea is perfect," said Maria, smiling at the sight of the tea set. "I don't drink coffee. My friend, Adele, can't properly function until she's had her morning coffee. I've seen her when she hasn't have her coffee yet, and it's not pretty." Maria stopped, realizing she was verging on rambling.

But Georg just chuckled as he poured Maria's tea. "My friend Max is the exact same way. He's a useless, crabby lump until he's had at least two cups, then he's more chipper than a bluebird."

Maria laughed, thinking that described Adele perfectly as well. "So you don't drink it, either?"

"No, I've always been a tea man. How do you take yours?"

"With two sugars, please."

Both spent a silent moment sipping their tea before Maria found the courage to revitalize the conversation. "So, my reason I avoid coffee is I do not want to become dependent on it to get out of bed in the morning. What about you?" Inwardly she cringed that she was keeping on this topic. Thankfully he just replied to the question as if nothing were wrong with it.

"That certainly is a reason, but also because I became so fond of the different types of tea I would try when I traveled. China, especially, had tea to die for."

"_China?_" asked Maria in shock. She'd never met anybody who had traveled beyond the continent, let alone China. "When were you there? Do you travel a lot? Is it for your job?"

"In a way," said Georg, charmed by her genuine curiosity. "I was in the navy for quite a while, so I got to see a lot of the world."

"Oh," said Maria, a little surprised and she couldn't help but give him an odd look.

"What?" asked Georg noticing.

"Oh, nothing, it's just…you don't look at all like a sailor," said Maria. Realizing that could be taken the wrong way, she hastily explained, "Well, you shouldn't take my word for it, I've only heard about sailors from books and my friend, Nicole, who's met quite a few, _not _that she's some easy woman, she just…" Her face felt on fire now as she realized she had rambled worse than ever and that he was looking at her surprised. "I'm sorry, I…I'm far too outspoken, it's one of my worst faults."

"Oh, no, I don't mind at all," said Georg, who now was smiling.

"Really, you don't have to –"

"I mean it," said Georg firmly. "All of my life, I've grown up with people who always censure what they say to make it vague, polite and emotionless, and I was brought up to do the same. So I admire anybody who has the courage not to do that."

Maria chuckled, relieved. "I wouldn't call it courage, just a tick I can't seem to get rid of."

"Well, whatever it is, I like it, so don't ever worry about that."

Maria smiled at him, feeling much more at ease, and he smiled back. He had meant what he said; he was absolutely charmed by her. When she talked, it wasn't without thought or false – it was honest, genuine, and enthusiastic. He'd never met anyone who spoke like this before, and he wanted more than ever to learn more about her.

But she spoke first. "So, you're in the navy. Are you here on leave?"

"No, I've been retired for some years now, after I received the Maria-Theresa medal."

Maria's eyes widened, impressed. "The Maria-Theresa medal? That's the highest honor a soldier can get! Wait a minute…I might have heard of you before, what's your full name?"

Georg gave a brief laugh, realizing they had yet to learn each other's last names. "Captain Georg Von Trapp."

Maria stared hard at him for a moment, digging through her memory, and then gasped. "I _do _remember you! There was an article in the paper about you when you got that medal. It said there was even a parade for you when you came back to Vienna."

Georg groaned. "I was _so _uncomfortable about all of that fuss. I just wanted to meet His Majesty, thank him for the medal and go back home. I'm not really one for big crowds and lots of fuss."

Maria nodded in understanding. "Then, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you to Paris?"

Georg wasn't really sure how to answer that question. He couldn't tell her the whole truth: _I came to Paris because I hate sleeping in the bed I shared with my late wife of three years and looking at my children's faces which just tells me I'm being a lousy father and I came to Paris because I have no memories of Agathe here but a time when I was your age, carefree, happy and naïve to the sorrows of life._

No, he definitely couldn't say all of that without scaring her away. So he told her the vague, safe version of the truth. "I just…felt like a change, and wanted to take a little week-long vacation somewhere. I hadn't been to Paris for about twenty years, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to see it again. I only got here early this morning."

Maria nodded slowly, looking at him. She could somehow sense that this was not nearly the entire story, but she knew better than to ask such personal questions to a man she hadn't even known for a day. And because he had not mentioned anyone else, Maria assumed correctly that he was here alone. If he had been married, he would have been wearing a ring and he probably wouldn't have asked to see her again like this. So she left the subject alone.

"And you, Mademoiselle Maria?" he asked, smiling a little at her. "Enough about me, I would like to know _your _full name, for a start."

Maria chuckled. "Rainer. My name is Maria Rainer."

"Maria Rainer," Georg repeated. "And how did you come to be in Paris? The boxes and what you briefly told me lets me know you both live and work here."

Maria had to bite back a sigh, for she should have known this was coming. Still, fair was fair. If she could ask him, he could ask her. If he could answer with the bare minimum, so could she. "Well, I've been living here for a little over a year. I came here because…I felt restless, I suppose, and wanted to experience something completely new. And because I had nothing to keep me in Austria, I saved up enough money, left, came here, got a good job in a dress boutique as a seamstress, and here I am."

Georg could sense it before she had finished: no way this was the whole story. When she told him that there was nothing for her in Austria, did that mean she had no family, or that she _did _have family but she had run away or they had disowned her? He couldn't imagine anyone disowning such a wondrous creature, not wanting to know her at all…but he knew it was not his place to ask such personal questions when they hadn't even known each other one day.

So, deciding to stay off of the dangerous topic – for the both of them, it seemed – he looked at the book she had brought with her that was now laying on the table beside her cup of tea. "You like Victor Hugo?"

That did it. Maria smiled, and the conversation got going about their shared love of literature and that moved on to language. While Maria was not too surprised to know that he could speak and write six languages, it surprised Georg that she could speak and write three. There were times, however, when answers to questions (from either of them) would be vague and the eye contact would break and the silence would be uncomfortable. This meant that the other had almost strayed into forbidden territory. But that did not deter either of them; only made them more intrigued. All the while they talked, they enjoyed their tea and some cakes that went along with it.

When Maria noticed the light had dimmed around them due to the setting sun, Maria asked Georg, "What time is it?"

Georg pulled out his golden pocket watch and opened it. "It's about seven thirty-five."

"Oh, goodness," murmured Maria, gathering her book and beginning to stand up. "I should be heading home."

"Oh, really?" Georg slipped out in disappointment, standing up as well.

Maria could hear the disappointment in his voice and see it in his face. She didn't really want to leave, either, but, "It's just, I have to work in the morning and I have quite a few things to do around the house before I go to bed."

"Ah, yes, completely understood," said Georg, who did indeed understand and did not want to hold her up, but he couldn't deny that he really enjoyed her company. "May I escort you home?"

"Oh, that's fine, I live close by, and you've more than made up for this," said Maria, who held out his folded handkerchief, newly washed and dried.

Georg reached out to take it, and purposefully brushed his fingers against hers as he did so. Both could feel the electricity pass between them.

When their hands dropped, they stood there for a moment in awkward silence, neither really knowing what to say. Would they ever see each other again? They sure wanted to. Maria was not normally hesitant to go after what she wanted, but this was completely new territory. She did not know what the rules of propriety were in situations like this.

Georg, before he could think about what he was doing, spoke, "Maria...if you're free, may I take you out to dinner tomorrow evening?"

Maria felt both relieved that he wanted to see her again and surprised that he even wanted to. She may not have known much about this sort of thing, but an invitation to dinner from a man…she knew what that meant: a date. Her eyes widened and was momentarily speechless. "I, uh…I _am _free…why?"

Georg was surprised she would ask such a question, so he answered honestly, "Because I greatly enjoy your company and would very much to see you again."

Looking into his eyes, she could see he meant it. And she couldn't deny that she wanted to see him again, very much so. But she did have one concern. "Would it be very fancy, because I'm not really sure I would –"

"Oh, no, nothing too fancy," replied Georg right away, glad that she didn't want it to be fancy and eager to make her comfortable.

Maria looked again in his eyes and said, "Sure. I would like that."

Georg smiled, happy. "It's a date, then." And he was relieved when Maria smiled back at him, which meant he hadn't said the wrong thing. He pulled a small notebook out of the inside of his pocket (an old habit from when he had been an officer) and pen. "May I have your address, so I can know where to pick you up?"

"Oh, sure, I live at number 17, Rue Mermont, apartment number 2."

"All right…" Georg murmured, writing it down. "I'll pick you up at seven o'clock. And, if anything comes up for you, I'm staying at the Ritz Hotel, the front desk will patch me through."

"Thank you," said Maria. A brief moment of silence and then Maria broke it again. "Well, until tomorrow, then."

Georg again took her hand and kissed it, lingering a millisecond longer than the first time. "Au revoir, Maria."

Maria blushed, smiled, and walked away home. She could feel his eyes on her until she had disappeared from his sight, but her smile did not fade.

* * *

Some time later, Georg came back into his hotel room and leaned against the closed door, in a state of exhaustion from walking and shock from what had happened this day. Absolutely the last thing he had ever expected to happen while he was in Paris, hell the rest of his life! Meeting a young woman, instantly attracted and intrigued, asking to see her again, getting to know her and become even more attracted, and finally make his feelings clear by asking her out to dinner!

_What in the world is happening to me? Who am I?_

Georg could feel a sense of panic rising in him, and he didn't want that, so he went to sit on his bed, picked up the phone, and dialed a familiar number.

A minute later, he heard Max's familiar voice. "Hello?"

"I'm in trouble."

"Georg, is that you? What are you doing in Paris?"

"Long story short, I just wanted to flee and the idea of Vienna's salons made me shudder, so…I came here this morning, so I could be completely anonymous and relive our fun times that we had here."

"Without me, Georg? You've cut me to the quick! And Else certainly won't be pleased she won't be seeing you this week."

"Look, Max, no disrespect intended, but your exaggerated resentment and Elsa's hurt pride are the furthest things from my mind. I repeat: I'm in trouble."

Max's tone instantly became serious. "Georg, what's happened? Are you hurt?"

"I…I met a woman."

_That _made Max speechless, but only for a moment. "Why don't you further define that for me, Georg, because I know that you didn't _just _meet a woman or you wouldn't sound so shaken."

Georg sighed deeply and told Max everything that had happened that day, from arriving in Paris to coming back to the hotel just now. He held nothing back about what had happened and how he was feeling during it all. Though he and Max were polar opposites in some areas, they were best mates and knew they could tell each other anything.

When Georg had finished, Max was silent for another moment before speaking. "Well, Georg, this certainly is an event in your life…and I can certainly understand the shock and fear you're feeling about it. But I'm happy for you."

"You are?" asked Georg, glad that Max did not think he was going insane but still curious as to why Max had this reaction. "Why?"

"I will not lie to you, my friend," said Max, his tone serious. "Ever since Agathe passed, you have been like a dead man walking. It takes ten times the effort for me, your closest and oldest friend, to make you smile, and I haven't heard you really laugh in three years. You don't seem to find any joy in life anymore; nothing excites you or intrigues you." Max didn't dare mention the subject of the children for good reason. "And now this mysterious young woman can bring you to life with one chance collision? She deserves the Nobel Peace Prize."

Georg scoffed, but with good humor. He knew that what Max was saying was honest; he'd been a beast in the past few years, a tortured soul hiding behind a stone façade. And it hadn't been until today, and Maria, that he'd felt himself come…alive again, in some way.

"I need your honest opinion, Max: Am I doing the right thing?"

"By taking Maria out to dinner, you mean?"

"Yes. After all, I am only here for a week. Would it be cruel to pursue this if there is such a time limit."

"Georg, like I said, it's taken three years and a chance encounter to bring you alive again. That's not something you should just pass by. And she seems to feel the same for you. By the way you describe her, she sounds as if she is running from something too, and is just as haunted as you. This could be very good for the both of you. She knows how long you're there for, right?"

"Yes."

"And still she agreed to dinner, which means you should give her some credit. If she can be brave, so can you."

Georg was silent for a minute, mulling all of this over. "Max, as eccentric and mooching as you are, it is no coincidence that Shakespeare made all of his fools the voice of reason in each of his plays."

Max laughed. "Keep in touch, Georg, all right?"

"I will, and please don't tell anybody."

"Georg, I may love gossip, but you know me better than that."

"Yes, I do. Talk to you later, Max."

"Good luck, my friend."

Georg hung up and knew that he would spend the next twenty-three or so hours thinking of the mysterious Maria.

* * *

Twelve minutes after leaving the Café de Flore, Maria entered her small but comfortable apartment and locked the door behind her. She leaned against the door for a few minutes, letting all that had happened today wash over her. She still could not get over the shock, and she wasn't sure what shocked her the most: the fact she had collided with this man from Austria, the fact that she was somehow drawn to him, the fact that he enjoyed her company, the fact that they could talk so easily to each other, or the fact that they were going on a date tomorrow night.

She felt excitement and nervousness well up inside her, and decided to call Therese right away, as she had promised to do. So she picked up her mail and went into her bedroom. Once she was settled on the bed, she dialed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Therese, it's me."

"Maria! How did it go, my friend?"

Smiling, Maria told Therese the story of their meeting. Therese, being a very good listener, never interrupted. Only when Maria was finished with the story did she speak. "Oh, my goodness, Maria!" she said, her quiet voice illuminated with excitement. "A date! That's wonderful news! I'm so happy you're letting yourself do this. But you're going to have to be prepared for Adele and Nicole tomorrow."

"Oh, I know," said Maria, who was beginning to absently shuffle through her mail. "They will want me to leave nothing untold and will have plenty of advice for me. And, quite honestly, because this is all very new to me, I will probably welcome anything they tell me." One letter caught her attention, and she immediately opened it and pulled out the letter. "Will you help me translate what advice to actually take to heart?"

"You know I will, Maria."

"And I'll be asking for your own adv…advice…too…" Maria's voice drifted as she read the letter she had just opened. She felt as if her heart was stopping.

Therese, hearing her silence and heavy breathing, said with slight alarm, "Maria, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I…I'll see you tomorrow all right? I…I need to be alone right now." Without waiting for Therese to object, Maria gently hung up the phone, her tear-filled eyes glued to the letter that disproved what she realized to be the greatest lie one had ever told her.

* * *

**A/N: **_Not what you expected, huh? Good, and I hope you enjoy it! Because these parts are longer than I usually write, don't expect my updates to be super-quick, but I will be working on it steadily. Please leave a review and tell me what you think!_


	2. Tuesday

**A/N: **_Sorry if this took a while, but when I started this story I didn't have the full plot worked out and I needed time to do that. I'll try to make sure the next update won't take as long as this one did, I promise. Please review, your responses have been great!_

* * *

**Tuesday**

When Maria woke up the next morning, an hour before her alarm would sound, she didn't feel at all refreshed. It had been midnight when she'd finally been able to fall asleep, and the dreams she'd had were not quite nightmares but definitely haunting. After fifteen minutes of lying in bed, trying to get just a little more sleep, Maria realized it was useless and pulled herself out to ready herself for the day. Her eyes looked at the letter on her bedside table all the way to the bathroom. She'd read it so many times she could memorize it.

Maria showered, dried off and wrapped herself in her robe. As she headed into her tiny kitchen and began making some tea and breakfast, she tried to define what she was feeling, but it was impossible. It felt like she was feeling too many things, like millions of bees buzzing around making such a noise there was no way Maria could distinguish the queen. Only the screeching whistle of the tea kettle announcing the boil kept her from thinking too deeply.

Just as she poured herself a cup of tea, she heard knocking at her front door. Surprised, Maria walked to it and peered through the peephole. Seeing who it was, she opened the door. "Therese! Come in."

Maria led her to the kitchen where she poured Therese a cup of tea before finishing her breakfast. Therese had been a visitor enough times to now feel always welcome to make herself at home, so she sat down at the table and said, without preamble, "The way our telephone conversation ended last night made me worried, and I wanted to see if you were all right."

Under Therese's gentle, non-judgmental gaze, Maria knew that she could tell her anything. The only person who knew anything about Maria's past was Therese, but even she didn't know very much. Sighing, Maria set down her plate and cup at the small table, opposite Therese. "I told you once that my maternal grandmother was from France, right?"

"Yes, I recall that," replied Therese.

Maria set her jaw for a moment, and then went to her room and came back with the letter, which she almost thrust into Therese's hands. Therese read the letter and, like Maria, was astonished by its contents. When she looked up after finishing it, she saw that Maria had eaten almost all of her small breakfast at the pace of a freight train. She was very agitated, and now Therese could understand why.

"Oh, my goodness, Maria…she's alive? But you told me that she died just before your parents did."

Maria almost slammed her fork down on the table in favor of resting her forehead in her now free hand. When she spoke, she spoke in an almost agonized voice. "I met her when I was about six years old, a year before my parents died. They took me to France for a week to visit her. I loved her right away, and I hated to say goodbye. So, when my parents died, my only ray of hope was that I could go back to France to live with her, even though that would mean leaving Austria behind. I was eight years old. But my uncle – whom I had never known about until my parents' deaths – told me she had died about a year before my parents did…so I went to live with him instead…"

Therese didn't need to ask Maria if living with her uncle had been entirely pleasant, by the look on Maria's face and the fact that Maria had never mentioned him until now. "Oh, Maria…" Therese said compassionately, for she could think of nothing else she could say to help the hurricane of emotions she knew were surging through her friend. So she reached out and took her hand. Maria held it while she steadied her breathing.

A few minutes later, Therese asked hesitantly, "What are you going to do?"

Maria sighed again and got up from the table, taking her dishes with her into the kitchen. She spoke as she washed them, speaking more to herself than Therese. "I don't know…God knows I want to see her again and talk to her again, there are so many questions I have…but I'm afraid of the answers. Why did my uncle lie to me? Why didn't my grandmother ever try to claim me, if she's alive? Oh, who am I kidding? I _know _I'm going to contact her, but not until I get up the nerve."

Therese nodded, even though Maria could not see her. She got up from the table and went to Maria, wordlessly pulling her into a comforting hug only a true friend can offer, and Maria gladly accepted it. She thanked God every day that she had a friend like Therese: a true one.

When Therese pulled back, she rubbed Maria's arms and smiled at her. "Well, if you don't want to think about that now, you don't have to. Think of today. What's happening today?"

Maria's brain was a little slow dislodging itself from the Pandora's box that letter had opened. "Um…we have to work for eight hours?"

Therese chuckled. "And _after _work?"

Maria remembered now. A smile slowly spread across her face, and she closed her eyes as she covered her pink cheeks. Therese laughed and the two women hugged enthusiastically again.

* * *

Not long after, Maria and Therese arrived at work together and early. Madame Chaput was there, for she personally opened and closed her shop every day. Maria had thought of both Georg and the letter's contents as she and Therese had silently walked to the shop. When she saw her boss, Maria suddenly knew what she had to do: resolve this sooner rather than later.

"Therese, go on in without me," she whispered to her friend, who nodded and disappeared into the workroom. Maria turned to her employer and approached her. "May I have a word with you, Madame?"

"Of course, Maria," said the older woman, giving Maria her attention. "What can I do for you?"

"I've recently received some news about my grandmother, who lives near Rouen. I wonder if I might take some of my vacation days soon to make a visit with her."

Madame Chaput thought for a moment and looked at her books. "Hmm…take the next four days."

Maria's head shot up. "What? Oh, no, Madame, I couldn't do that, this is too much."

"No, Maria, it will not be," said Madame Chaput. "The debutante season will not begin until next month, and we can spare you this week. You have worked for me for over a year, and have never asked for anything, let alone time off. You've been a model employee, Maria, so I take pleasure in granting this request and more."

Maria could hear from the firmness in her voice and see by the kind fairness in her eyes that it would be foolish to argue. Though she was still very nervous and even scared of what she might learn about contacting her grandmother, at least she had plenty of time to herself in which to do it, however it would turn out. "Thank you, Madame, so much. But if, for some reason, I am needed, please don't hesitate to call and I will come right back to work."

"I will," said Madame Chaput. "But, for now, today you _do _have to work, so go and join Therese now."

"Yes, Madame, and thank you again." Smiling, Maria disappeared into the workroom, and Madame opened the shop with a brighter smile than usual on her face.

* * *

When Adele and Nicole arrived barely on time together (they both shared an apartment and were not exactly morning people), only when both had had their morning coffees did they begin the interrogation.

"What happened?"

"How long did you stay at the café?"

"Did you go anywhere else?"

"Did he kiss you?"

Therese looked sympathetically at Maria while suppressing her giggles. Maria couldn't help but smile even as she rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm not in a talking mood right now, I'm in a sewing mood. We _do _have work to do, you know."

"Oh, come on, Maria –"

"You _have _to tell us!"

Suddenly a sharp rapping at the workroom door silenced the two of them. Madame Chaput's voice sounded through the wood. "Why do I hear the sounds of chattering over the sound of the sewing machines? Get to work!"

"Yes, Madame," all four of them called back, and Adele and Nicole sulkily went to their work-tables. But both shot Maria looks that clearly said she was not off-the-hook.

Maria merely chuckled and went to work, glad that she had thoughts of her dinner date tonight to distract her from frightening questions about her grandmother.

* * *

Georg had not afforded himself the luxury of sleeping in late for a very long time, but he allowed himself to do it this morning. God saw fit to give him a long, deep sleep of pleasant dreams – in which Maria made a few innocent appearances. When Georg woke up around ten o'clock, the image he remembered most was of Maria, smiling and laughing with radiance, running and dancing on a hill near the Austrian Alps. He liked the image because it was not erotic in the traditional sense but innocent – charming, just like her, and attractive in its own way. It was one of those images he knew he could just think of and he would smile. He hadn't had an image like that for a long time.

After showering, changing, and eating a quick brunch at the hotel, Georg set out for another long walk around the city. But this time he had specific things to look for. He hadn't been to Paris in twenty years, and even when he had been here, he hadn't looked for any nice places to take a woman.

But this situation was entirely different. He had this one evening with Maria; that was all he knew so far, for who knows if tonight would go well or if they would just end it clean this night. He was, after all, only here for a week. But boy, was he going to make the best of it with Maria.

He hadn't gone very far before he heard someone call, "Georg!" The voice sounded oddly familiar, so he slowed his steps and turned around in the direction he'd heard the voice. A man who looked about his age with a boyish face and blonde hair now turning silver was leaning against a building looking right at him. Seeing that Georg had heard him, his smile widened and he exclaimed, "Georg, is that really you?"

For a moment, Georg was at a loss. The man looked and sounded so familiar, but Georg couldn't quite place it. Then, when he saw the man's green eyes, it all came back to him. "_Claude?"_

Claude – for it was indeed him – laughed and clapped his hands once, nodding. Georg laughed, too, and the two men approached each other and gave a manly embrace.

"Never thought I'd see _you _again, sailor!" Claude said, smiling and patting Georg's shoulder.

"Likewise!" said Georg, who was just as happy as he was surprised to see his old friend after twenty years; it was just as easy to tease him as it had been back then. "And, I must say, you certainly look your age."

"Oh, you're one to talk!" laughed Claude. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Spontaneous vacation," replied Georg. "And you, Casanova? My God, we must catch up!"

"Oh, _mon ami_, I am just on my way to an appointment now. Walk with me up the street?"

"Of course," said Georg, and the two men began walking in the direction Claude pointed in. "I have plans tonight, but could we have dinner tomorrow night?"

Claude pulled a pocket book out of his inside jacket pocket and looked in it. "_Oui, _that would be perfect. It's my one free night this week, but I would have made it free to catch up with an old friend whom I haven't spoken to in a score of years. Tell me where you're staying, so I can call you."

"The Ritz, just give my name to the manager," said Georg. "Though we won't be able to properly catch up until tomorrow night, can I ask a quick question or two?"

"Fire away!"

"Do you still keep in touch with Jacque? It would be wonderful to catch up with him, too." Now that Georg had seen Claude, he was eager to also find out what had happened to the other very good friend he had made when in Paris last.

"Yes, quite frequently," replied Claude, smiling. "He lives in his native Rouen, and is making quite a good living for himself as the resident _artiste._"

"Oh, I'm so delighted he's stayed with his passion," said Georg, smiling and remembering their quiet, creative friend.

Claude hurriedly wrote a phone number on a blank page in his pocketbook, tore it out, and handed it to Georg. "There's his phone number; I know he would love to hear from you."

"Thank you very much, Casanova," said Georg, putting the paper in his pocket and smiling. Using his old friend's nickname made Georg realize that Claude would be of a great help to him. "Before you have to rush off, could you possibly help me with something? All you need to do is give me your best recommendation."

"Of course, _mon ami,_" said Claude, smiling. They had come to a stop outside of one elegant building. "What is it?"

"Well, as you know, it has been a long time since I've been in Paris. I'm taking someone out tonight, and none of the places we haunted back then are anywhere near appropriate."

Claude gave him a knowing look. "_Un mademoiselle?"_

Georg rolled his eyes but smiled. "Is it that obvious? Yes, I met her yesterday."

"Ah! _Coup de foudre?_"

That teasing question hit Georg almost like a nasty slap of sea air during a storm. He hadn't expected it, and, even though Claude had been joking, made him uncomfortable and hastened to ignore it completely. "Um, so anyway, Claude, if you're reputation as a ladies' man has not disappeared, will you please give me the names of some restaurants? Nothing extremely fancy, but nothing too common, either."

Claude had seen Georg's reaction to his teasing question in his eyes, and knew he had said the wrong thing. Just why it had been the wrong thing eluded him, because it had been so long since they had seen each other and had been young men, carefree and arrogant. They definitely had a lot of catching up to do.

Because his appointment was in five minutes and he didn't want to leave this unexpected reunion on an awkward note, he did what Georg wished him to do. "Well, I happen to know the perfect place. It's called _Le Papillon de Bijou,_ a charming little restaurant right on the Seine. It's in that area where many artists set up their easels to paint by the river, and many musicians and groups like to play music; there are _always _at least a few couples dancing down there. I think that would be perfect if you don't want to be too fancy."

"Thank you," said Georg, taking a firm mental note.

"Well, I must go now," said Claude, indicating the building they had stopped in front of. They shared a meaningful look. "Oh, I never thought I would see you again, but I'm very glad I was proven wrong."

"As am I," replied Georg, who meant in sincerely. "Until tomorrow, then."

"_Oui. Au revoir, _sailor." With one final smile, Claude disappeared into the building.

For the rest of the afternoon, Georg remained in a very good mood, both because of the unexpected reunion with his old friend, and in anticipation for seeing Maria again. He proceeded to find the restaurant Claude had told him about and, from there, plan the evening he was going to give Maria – in case it would be the only one they would ever share together.

But there was something in the back of Georg's mind that would occasionally make him pause with confusion in worry. It was that teasing remark his friend had made, the phrase he had used: _coup de foudre._ Whenever he thought of it, though, Georg would firmly shove it to the back of his mind.

Claude had only been teasing about something he knew nothing about. There was no truth in that phrase when it applied to him and Maria. Georg would not, could not, let it be true.

* * *

Maria knew that just because Adele and Nicole obeyed their employer's order to work and not talk, she knew it was only a matter of time before the wall to the dam burst. Sure enough, when their lunch hour came, they all voted Therese go out and get their lunch while they stayed with Maria and got all of the satisfying answers that they wanted.

Therese left the workroom with an amused, pitying glance at Maria, a silent apology she would be alone for the inquisition. But Maria just smiled. Adele and Nicole were very good friends to Maria, and would never force her to do anything or say anything she was uncomfortable with revealing – they knew where to draw the line. And besides, Maria truly didn't mind answering their questions about her meeting with Georg – it was a good distraction from thinking of the situation with her grandmother.

Once Therese was out of the room, Adele and Nicole rushed right to Maria and pulled her by the hands outside to the little courtyard behind the shop, where they always had their lunch on nice days. When they were all seated at the simple picnic table – Adele and Nicole on one side, Maria on the other – they began. "All right, tell us everything, don't leave anything out!" ordered Adele, a wide and eager smile on her face. Nicole was less vocal, but her striking face held as much curiosity and enthusiasm as Adele had.

After rolling her eyes, but still smiling, Maria told them about having coffee with Georg, occasionally interrupted by one of the two for clarification or more details. "…Just before I left, he…asked to take me out to dinner tonight."

Both Adele and Nicole gasped, and Therese came just in time to laugh at the expressions on their faces. As she set their lunch on the table and took a seat beside Maria, Adele and Nicole were in the midst of "Oh my goodness!" and "That's so wonderful!" and "Oh, Maria!" which made Maria and Therese laugh even more.

"Well, where are you going?" asked Nicole. Being a beauty with rumored gypsy blood, men frequently asked her out, though none had yet caught her interest enough to become something serious. As such, she was quite knowledgeable of the many places that men who liked women would take them.

"I don't know," replied Maria. "I only asked that it not be anything too fancy, and he agreed with me. So I'm just going to be surprised, I suppose."

"Well, I don't care how much Madame yells at us, you're giving us all of the details first thing tomorrow," said Adele.

Maria sighed and smiled. "I'm afraid not. Madame has given me a holiday starting tomorrow; I don't have to come back to work until Monday."

Adele and Nicole looked very surprised at this, for Maria had never had so much as a day off before. Therese looked at Maria, knowing the reason why and glad that Madame had given her some time off. "Why, Maria? Has something happened?" asked Nicole with concern.

"Yes, you could say that, but you needn't worry," said Maria. "I've discovered I still have some family in France and am taking the time see them."

"Oh, Maria, that's wonderful news!" said Adele, taking Maria's hands in hers. "First this Georg and now news of your family! I hope you realize now that you are not completely alone in this world."

Maria gave her a heartfelt smile and squeezed her hands back. "From the moment I met the three of you, I knew that I wasn't. Now, let's eat before our lunch gets cold."

* * *

For the entire afternoon in the workroom, as Maria worked on their current assignments, Adele and Nicole kept whispering pieces of advice to her about her date that night. "Don't cover your face with make-up." "Make sure nothing gets caught in your teeth when you eat." "Always be a little vague to keep up the mystery and his interest."

By the time five o'clock came, Maria's head was buzzing with all of these pieces of advice, as if a million annoying mosquitoes were buzzing around her ears. And she was still blushing from one of Nicole's whispered comments: "You know, you're the first girlfriend I have whom I don't have to warn about birth control for the first date."

At five o'clock, the four of them cleaned up their work-stations and made plans for their weekly potluck dinner Wednesday night. Adele and Nicole hurried home, shouting last-minute pieces of advice over their shoulders to Maria as they went.

When they were gone, Therese laughed and took Maria's hand. "I'll just give you two pieces of advice, Maria: enjoy a hot bath, and just be yourself. It worked for me, and it will work for you."

Maria smiled, gladly letting those pieces of advice destroy all of the others. She hugged Therese. "Thank you for everything today, Therese," she said.

"See you tomorrow night," said Therese, who smiled at Maria and walked down the street.

When Maria got home, she took Therese's advice to heart and soaked in a long, hot bath. But once she was out of the soothing hot water, her anxiety and anticipation began to build. She decided to focus on the latter, for if she focused on the former she thought she would go crazy. After she was washed and dried, Maria went to her closet to find something to wear. She had plenty of working and day dresses, along with a few nice, modest ones she wore to church.

But in the back of her closet, she had a few dresses she wore whenever she went out with one of the girls to a restaurant, concert or something else. She and the girls frequently made clothes for themselves out of the leftover fabric, especially when it was nice fabric. Looking at these dresses, Maria finally settled on a blush-pink dress made of soft taffeta, with wide shoulder straps and a V-neck collar in front and back. It synched her waist and the skirt ended at her knees. After she slipped on the matching slippers, Maria sat down at her vanity and brushed her short golden hair, making it shine.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Maria found herself wondering why Georg had chosen her. A handsome man like him could have asked any available woman in Paris – why had he chosen a dressmaker with hair that was too short and clothes that were too plain? Perhaps it was their shared Austrian roots that had attracted him to her. That had certainly been a great factor in her attraction for him.

This was an event: never before had Maria admitted being attracted to any man, which, considering her past, could only be a good thing.

* * *

The taxi pulled up to Maria's building five minute before seven. Georg paid the driver and told him to wait for him and his guest. Georg got out of the car, smoothing his grey suit jacket with one hand and holding a corsage in the other.

He'd walked into the flower shop hoping to get just a single flower, but the saleslady, upon hearing it was meant for a first date, said that he must get a corsage so she could wear the flower rather than carry it around. Picking the right one had been difficult. Georg knew immediately that he wanted some kind of rose to be the main flower, because her flushed cheeks had reminded him of two roses. But the color of the rose had been more difficult. The saleslady was a great help, for she knew what each color meant in a rose. Red meant passion, and white meant bridal, therefore both of those were out of the question – that would be coming on too strong. He was about to settle for a yellow or pink rose when he found the perfect corsage. Baby's breath accented the centerpiece rose: a white rose with pink accenting each of the tips. Though he had only known Maria for one day, he knew it was perfect for her, innocent and sweet as she was.

Checking his information, Georg entered into the building and soon found a white door with the number 2 on it. This was it. As he lifted up his hand to knock, he suddenly felt himself doubting what he was doing. He didn't know if it was just nerves of the moment or serious questioning of getting involved with this girl, but he stomped down on it immediately after it came into his head. Whatever it was, he would not be a jackass and stand Maria up. There would be no turning back.

So he knocked on the door right on time, and waited for Maria to open the door. After a minute the door did open, and there she was. _Oh, my…_was his only coherent thought as he looked at her. Surely she hadn't been this lovely when he met her yesterday. She stood before him looking like a rose in bloom, with that lovely dress and her lovely face. Upon seeing him, her polite smile faded into a sincere smile, and her blue eyes sparkled in recognition. "Hello, Georg," she said brightly, but he could hear some nervousness in her tone as well. Georg was glad of this, knowing he was not alone. This gave him confidence.

"_Bonjour, mademoiselle_," he said, giving a grand bow and earning a giggle from her. Georg held out the corsage for her. "This is for you."

Maria gasped and her smile widened. "Oh, how lovely, thank you! You really didn't have to do this."

"It was my pleasure, Maria," said Georg. "Here, hold out your wrist."

Maria obeyed and lifted her left wrist and let Georg tie the corsage around her wrist. Both enjoyed the sensation of the light skin-on-skin contact. When that was done, Georg asked, "Are you ready?"

Maria nodded, grabbing her handbag and making sure her keys were inside. "Yes. Then again, I have no idea where we're going, so all I'm ready for is to follow you."

Georg smiled at her and held out his arm for in the old-fashioned way. "You won't regret it. Trust me."

_Trust you? This is only the third time I've seen you…and yet I feel like I can…_So, in reply, Maria merely took his arm and smiled.

* * *

"Oh, that was delicious!" said Maria with satisfaction, after finishing her chocolate and strawberry dessert. "The whole meal was absolutely delicious!"

Georg smiled, glad that she had found the meal as satisfying as he had. The conversation, too, had been very nice. They had never lacked for words or topics: they had continued their discussion of literature from yesterday, and that had progressed into Maria prodding Georg for stories from his navy days about the places over the world he had gone to. Georg was amazed. Normally, he was not a very talkative person, but her genuine curiosity and enthusiasm drew him out. Hearing the story through her ears made his adventures sound exciting again.

When the waiter came back with the check, Georg saw Maria beginning to open her handbag and he immediately held up a hand to stop her. "Absolutely not, Maria, I've got it."

His voice was so firm that Maria immediately closed her handbag, but she still said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Georg, handing several bills to the waiter. They got up from the table and Georg held out his arm for Maria again, which she took with curiosity. Was the date finished now, since the meal was finished? Maria hoped not.

It seemed not, for Georg led the both of them to the nearby walkway along the Seine and they idly began to walk, in no hurry. The sun was very nearly set, and there were plenty of artists scattered about, eager to paint the view, and the sound of music could be heard in the distance.

"It's so lovely," Maria murmured, looking at the play of colors on everything that the setting sun had created.

"Yes," murmured Georg, who was looking at those lights and colors playing over her. But he turned his head before she looked at him. He saw a small sailboat floating by them with red sails, and he chuckled. "My son used to have a toy that looked just like that boat."

Maria's steps slowed slightly and he was given a surprised look and soft smile. "You have a son?"

Georg realized that Maria had no idea about his own personal life; she had no idea that he was a widower and a father of seven! How could he have been so stupid not to mention this before? Inwardly he cursed himself. She would probably lose most of her interest in him finding out how much baggage she had. But now that he had unintentionally opened the door and she had walked in…He took a deep breath and answered, "Two sons…and five daughters."

Now Maria stopped completely in her tracks, her hand loosening her grip on his arm from the shock that reflected on her face. "Seven children?" she exclaimed, surprised.

Georg cringed slightly and nodded. Of course that would shock her – how many people had seven children these days? But he took comfort in the fact that he saw no disgust or annoyance or any negative emotion in her face or eyes. He just saw genuine surprise that was perfectly normal. Allowing himself to be a little relieved that it was out in the open and she was not running away, he nodded.

But it seemed he was not out of the woods yet, for her face became guarded. "Are they on this trip with you?"

"No, no, they are at home in Salzburg," said Georg quickly, eager to put her at ease with him again.

But her face, if anything became more guarded. She withdrew her hand from his arm and crossed her arms protectively over her chest, taking a step back. "I didn't think you were a married man when I agreed to see you tonight, and if you are, I don't at all feel comfortable seeing you," she said in a slightly cold voice.

"Maria," said Georg, as she turned around to look at the river, the words spilling out. "Please believe me, I'm not married, I…I _was _married, but…my wife died three years ago."

Georg almost didn't recognize the sound of his voice, and he realized something: he'd never told anybody his wife was dead. When Agathe had died, he had immediately shut inside himself, and it had been other people who had spread the word to anyone who knew him, so no one would make a false assumption. He hadn't even told his children; his mother-in-law had. But this was the first time he had said those words aloud to anybody.

And he was shocked that saying the words didn't have the effect he expected. The pain he felt upon saying them was not piercing, burning or unbearable…in fact, saying the words felt more like remembering the pain of a wound rather than getting one as he spoke it. The shock was so great that he too turned to the river and put his hands on the stone railing.

But he didn't forget Maria, for he could feel her gaze on him, and then her gentle hand on his forearm. When she spoke, her voice was rich with compassion and apology, sincere apology. "I…I am so sorry, Georg…I didn't mean to hurt you."

Georg quickly came back to reality and shook his head, looking at her. Those beautiful eyes were filled with the emotions he had heard in her voice, along with tears just for him. Georg felt safer than he had in a long while, knowing this young woman was not just being polite; she truly felt for him. "You didn't," he said. "_I'm _sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, and for not telling you about my wife and children sooner."

Maria shook her head. "It was none of my business…" Maria looked like she wanted to ask or know more, but her last statement made her shut her mouth, and she withdrew her hand, leaning against the stone railing beside Georg.

He looked at her, gazing at the river. He knew she was curious, and now that he had said she was dead, he knew he could say why. "You can ask, you know; I don't mind."

Maria looked at him, making sure she could; his eyes told no lies. "What happened?" she asked as gently as she could.

"Scarlet fever."

Maria's eyes widened slightly before she abruptly turned her gaze back to the river. Her jaw clenched and she said very quietly, "That's how my parents died."

Now it was Georg's eyes that widened. He looked at her with the same compassion she had felt for him, and he felt a sense of kinship and comfort with her now, knowing that she could at least partly understand what he had been through. "Oh, Maria…"

Maria shook her head slightly and said, "It's all right, it happened a long time ago."

Eventually, she looked at him again, and both seemed to have a silent understanding with each other. Somehow both could feel that their bond, so newly formed, had become a bit stronger by this knowledge. But both understood that they didn't want to talk about their losses to the fever anymore today which was turning into tonight. Both simultaneously looked down and saw that Georg's hand was covering Maria's on the stone railing, and withdrew their hands very slowly.

Silently, they pushed away from the stone railing and resumed their walking, only now Maria didn't hold onto Georg's arm. After a minute, Maria felt something brush her hand and, feeling what it was, gently took it. Their hands clasped together, and the only acknowledgement they made about it was to exchange a shy smile.

After another minute of silence, Georg was eager to resume the easy conversation the two had exchanged thus far when they were together. Looking at Maria, she saw that her gaze was at the spot where the sun had just set, and she was lost in thought.

Gently, he gave her hand a squeeze and her gaze shifted to him. "You look far away…hopefully not in a sad place."

Maria gave a half-smile and looked down for a moment as they walked. "No, nothing sad, just…thinking I should check the train schedules to Rouen," she said vaguely.

That wasn't what Georg had been expecting to hear. "You need a ride to Rouen?"

"Probably," she said, again vaguely. "There is someone there I would like to see again, and I would probably go to Rouen on Thursday if…I were welcome to come."

Georg could hear in her tone of voice that she did not want to discuss this particular subject any further. But he at least wanted to help her; the knowledge that he was not the only one who wanted to travel to Rouen on Thursday provided him with the perfect opportunity. "Well, if you need a means of getting to Rouen on Thursday, I would gladly give you a ride."

Maria gave him a look that said _oh come now really. _"You've already been so generous with me, Georg, I can't allow you to become my own personal chauffer!"

"Generous? You are quite mistaken, Maria," said Georg matter-of-factly. "I must admit that my motive for offering is quite selfish, just as this night and yesterday afternoon. As I've told you before, I greatly enjoy your company, more so than I've enjoyed anybody's company in a long time. But the fact that you call me generous makes me feel much better about my selfish motives, because it means you enjoy my company hopefully as much as I enjoy yours."

He was now looking at her with a tender yet fiery expression in his eyes, but Maria did not feel frightened. But she did feel a little embarrassed at his accurate observation, for she blushed and lowered her gaze – but not without smiling.

"Besides, this time my motive isn't completely selfish," said Georg, pretending he hadn't noticed her reaction (but he had and took great pleasure in it). "I offer because it happens to be very convenient. Today, by chance, I ran into an old friend I had met in Paris the last time I was here and never thought I would see again. He told me of another friend we had made, and gave me his contact information. After talking to him today over the phone, we've organized for me to rent a car and go see him in Rouen, where he lives, on Thursday. If you don't believe me, I'd be happy to show you his information." His last remark had been made with a teasing smile.

Maria looked closely at him, and determined that he was not lying. "Well, if you're sure…"

"We'll work out the details tomorrow," said Georg with soft finality, inwardly rejoicing that he would be seeing Maria again before this vacation was over. And she was inwardly rejoicing too. To show that and her gratitude, Maria wordlessly caressed the back of his hand that she was holding with her thumb. In response to that, Georg repeated the gesture.

They continued to walk in silence past the various artists still painting in the twilight by the light of the streetlamps and starlight. The sound of music was getting louder and louder the farther they walked until they came upon a small crowd of people gathered. Couples were dancing merrily to the music being played by several young musicians. Maria and Georg stopped just in time to applaud with the crowd as the number came to an end.

When the musicians started a slower, more intimate song, Georg looked at Maria. She seemed to have forgotten he was there, even though she was still holding his hand. She was unconsciously swaying in time to the music a bit, and her eyelids were drooping as she listened to the music with a small but genuine smile on her face. And because all of the other couples had begun to dance, it was not hard for Georg to figure out the next logical step.

Now, Georg Von Trapp had never really been one for dancing. It had been his least favorite thing to learn in school, and even Agathe had needed to persuade him to dance at parties. But now, seeing how entranced she seemed to be by the music and realizing this would be a perfect yet appropriate way to be close to her, Georg realized that he, in fact, _wanted _to dance with Maria.

Squeezing her hand, Georg brought her attention back to him. "Shall ve dance?" he asked in an exaggerated French accent.

Maria giggled and nodded. "Zimply delighted to, _monsieur," _she shot back at him, making him chuckle. Georg led her by the hand closer to the crowd of couples, and then raised their joined hands. As she put her hand hesitantly on his shoulder, he gently put his hand on her waist, pulling her a bit closer to him. They soon fell into easy steps after the first initial awkwardness, slowly swaying to the lovely music.

"You seem to know what you're doing?" remarked Maria, feeling brave enough to flirt a little, though she had no experience before. It just came naturally to her with him.

"Oh, really?" said Georg, who knew what she was doing and, while delighting in it, played right along. Without warning, he dipped her gracefully and she nearly shrieked from surprise. Looking down at her in mid-dip, he said nonchalantly, "There's nothing to that, really."

He brought Maria back up and twirled her as she giggled. Once back in the standard position, Maria rolled her eyes. "So the sea captain is a show-off."

A few minutes passed in dreamy silence. Maria still felt a bit shy, despite the occasional flirting they had done, for she had never been involved with a man before. So sometimes her cheeks would flush or her gaze would shift to her feet or over his shoulder. But when she did meet his gaze, she saw that it was gentle and almost tender, so she felt safe.

After a beautiful piano solo in the music, Georg notice Maria's gaze drift to the river in a delighted, dreamy gaze, her lips spreading in a peaceful smile. "You like the music?" he asked softly.

She looked him straight in the eye. "I love _all _music. I always have…My first memory is of my mother singing to me…As I grew up both she and my father would teach me songs in German, French, and English. My grandmother was a singer, too, and she taught me even more when I met her…I felt closest to them all through music after I lost them…" Her eyes, which had been wistful, now filled with many emotions as well as tears.

Georg's heart was filled with compassion for this young woman. Though he knew only part of her story and not all, he knew that she had suffered through losses as great as his own, perhaps even greater. He also felt a kind of envy: Music had always been something he loved and Agathe loved, but it had been one of the many things he had pushed away after she died. Why could he not have been given her strength or reasoning?

But now was not the time, he realized, when he saw a tear slide silently down Maria's pink cheek as the music stopped. Like him, she was far from healed. Wordlessly, Georg wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest, not saying anything because he knew words, in this situation, were worthless. So he did the only thing he could think of doing that would – hopefully – give her some comfort.

Maria, to his relief, did not object, but let herself lean against him as she silently let out a few tears. After a minute, she hesitantly let her arms wrap around his back in a gesture of gratitude and acknowledgement that she needed this. Georg held her a bit tighter and rested his cheek against your hair.

When was the last time he had held someone just for the sake of holding them? Had it really been so long? Because words couldn't describe how wonderful it felt to be holding Maria.

* * *

Maria cursed herself for becoming so emotional in front of Georg, whom she had barely known for two days. But she felt uncomfortable showing emotion like this even in front of Therese. Why had she not been able to control this emotion rising in her. When she felt the tear escape, Maria wanted nothing more than to dive into the river and swim far away.

But Georg stopped any such possibility and surprised her completely when he wrapped his arms around her and brought her to rest against him. Vaguely, she realized the song had ended.

Maria could not recall ever being held by a male after her father died, and this was definitely not the embrace of a father. The sensations it gave her were warmth, security, understanding – it said all of the things that words couldn't. Knowing now that this man had suffered great loss, just like her, made her trust him to know what she would need. And this moment proved it. So she let herself relax against him as she let out some tears she couldn't hold back in, and eventually, hesitantly, wrapped her arms around his back in gratitude. The sound of his heartbeat brought inexplicable feelings to her own heart, feelings she was not about to define.

The young woman had never felt so safe or so wonderful.

After a few minutes of this simple, silent gesture, Maria felt herself calm and her emotions go down. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she dropped her arms and pulled away from him. "I'm sorry about that, I –"

But he stopped her next words by holding up a hand silently. Then, with the smallest of smiles on his face, pulled out his handkerchief and gave it to her – again. She looked at it and gave a watery laugh. "Thank you," she said, and wiped her cheeks and eyes. Now that she was out of his arms and twilight was giving way to night, she shivered in the now cooler air. Georg noticed and, wordlessly and quickly, took off his grey jacket and put it round her shoulders. She felt instantly warmer.

When she looked at him, her thank you dried up on her tongue when she saw how much understanding and compassion was in his eyes. All he said was, "I'll walk you home."

Feeling more grateful than ever that he could understand both her emotions and what she needed, Maria slipped her smaller hand into his bigger one, laced their fingers together, and walked the relatively short distance back to her apartment in comfortable silence.

When they came to Maria's building, the two of them stopped and looked at each other. Maria reluctantly let go of his hand to give his jacket back. The date had come to an end now, and while she knew she needed time to herself now, she wished he didn't have to leave.

Georg put his jacket back on and took out the small notebook she had seen him use the previous day. "May I have your phone number, Maria? So we can work out the details about Thursday?"

"Of course," said Maria, and said it to him. He wrote it down and put the items back inside his jacket pocket. Their gazes connected and Maria had to fight to speak, she was nearly breathless.

"Georg, I…this evening was really lovely. I mean that, it was wonderful. Thank you so much." She meant every word she spoke, and wished they were more eloquent.

But Georg merely gave her a small smile, and brought a hand up to cup her cheek. Now her breath really did catch in her throat at the sensation, and her eyes could not be torn from his. "Thank _you, _Maria. I'm very glad I found you."

_Oh, he means it, too,_ Maria nearly swooned. And she came even closer to swooning when Georg leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She'd never been kissed by a man before (after her father). And, again, this was entirely different.

When he pulled back, he squeezed her hands and said, "_Au revoir."_

"_Au revoir," _she replied, her cheeks the same color as her dress. Reluctantly, she let his hands go and walked up to her front door. Before closing it, she looked back at him and exchanged a smile.

She walked into her own apartment in a dream state, leaning against the closed door inside and giving a deep exhale. If that was what a date was like…she had been missing out! But she also knew that Nicole was right: _It all depends on who you go on the date with._

When she felt herself coming back down to Earth, Maria lifted the wrist that the corsage rested on and smelled it to resume the dream. It reached new heights when she realized that, in the same hand, she held his handkerchief. Again.

And she smiled and laughed joyously all the way to bed.

* * *

Georg was in as much of a dream as Maria was, and chose to walk all the way back to the Ritz, he felt that elated. He had no regrets about leaving his handkerchief with her – it was in good hands. In his mind he replayed all of the wonderful moments the date had held, allowing them to be at the forefront. Doubts about what he was doing could come tomorrow. Not tonight, though; he had not felt this good in three years.

When he reached the hotel, he considered phoning Max, but decided against it, wanting to keep this to himself a little longer. And somehow his feet led him into one of the more intimate bars in the Ritz that was mostly empty. But he didn't want a drink. Before he knew it, he was standing before the beautiful grand piano in the room.

And, not caring why or questioning why, Georg sat down at the beautiful instrument and slowly but surely let himself back into the world of music. And he knew just who to thank for it.


	3. Wednesday

**Wednesday**

It was past midnight by the time Georg left the grand piano in the bar. Though he felt as if he were only just getting started, his body and system were tired and screaming for rest. So, begrudgingly, he had gone back up to his room, changed into his nightclothes, and fell asleep.

When he woke up, Georg didn't feel quite as refreshed as he expected to feel, especially after the wonderful evening he'd had. Though he did not remember any of the dreams he'd had, Georg had woken up with a lingering feeling of sadness and confusion. _Perhaps it's best that I don't remember what I dreamed. The last thing I need to do is slip into another melancholy._

Georg realized that today would be his first day in Paris he would not see Maria; the thought depressed him. But he brightened at the prospect of dining with Claude that evening, and also of just calling Maria to arrange things for tomorrow. When he and Maria would drive to Rouen together. Though they would part ways once they got there, just the thought of a two-hour long car ride with her was enough to make him smile.

So, with pleasant things in his mind, Georg decided to treat himself with a scrumptious breakfast brought up by room service, after showering and shaving. Just as he was finishing his last crepe, the telephone in his room rang. Knowing it was most likely Claude to make dinner arrangements, Georg had a small hope that it would be Maria calling, that she would be taking the initiative rather than him. But when he picked up the phone, it was Claude's merry voice that he heard.

"_Bonjour, _sailor! I trust you had a pleasant evening? You _are _alone, aren't you?" His tone had been full of that old innuendo he remembered from twenty years ago, as well as the familiar chuckle he couldn't quite hold back.

While a large part of him felt annoyed, he knew that Claude had meant no harm. After all, when the two had known each other, Georg had been nearly as popular with the ladies as Claude had been (and probably still was, since Georg had not noticed him wearing a wedding).

So Georg just gave an exaggerated chuckle and said, "Very funny, and yes I am. It was not that kind of date and I . . ." He had wanted to say he was not that kind of man anymore, but then his physical affairs, especially with Elsa, after Agathe's death prevented him from doing so. So he merely said, "All right, what is the plan for tonight? You know this city better than I do, so it falls to you to decide where we go."

The conversation did not last much longer, for Claude was on his way to another appointment, so they merely settled on the restaurant where they would eat and the time they would meet there.

Not long after this conversation had ended, the telephone rang for a second time. Even more hopeful that it was Maria, Georg smiled and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"So, how did it go?"

He'd never been more disappointed to hear Max's voice, so he decided to play a little. "What? You're doing to have to be more descriptive than that, Max."

Max scoffed. "Oh, Georg, you know perfectly well what I mean! How did your evening go with Maria?"

Georg chuckled and told him the story of the evening: the corsage that matched her, the dinner where they had such good conversation, the pleasant walk along the river, dancing and then walking her home. Georg was careful not to mention Maria's emotional moment in his arms or the more serious aspects of their conversation that had led to it.

"Sounds like you both had a lovely time," said Max, sounding very satisfied.

"She said so, and I know I did," said Georg, a soft smile on his face. "And you'll never guess what else happened."

"You two had an even more lovely night?"

"No!" Georg nearly yelled, frustrated that he was being asked this question again (thought he really couldn't blame them). "I met an old friend again out of the blue."

"Who?"

"Claude."

Max gasped. "Oh, my God! I can't believe it! How is he? Tell me everything!"

"Well, both of the times I've talked to him he was always on his way to some kind of appointment, so his energy has not dimmed with age."

"Ha ha ha! I wonder if he has completely transferred the energy he used to have for being a ladies man into being a businessman, or if he is still the Casanova I remember him to be."

Georg chuckled. "Neither would surprise me. Well, we are going to catch up properly over dinner tonight, and will gladly pass along your number to him. And he is not the only one I have found again."

Max gasped. "Jacque?"

"Yes. Claude told me he lives in his native Rouen as the resident artist. Tomorrow, I'm driving with Maria to Rouen so I can catch up with him as well."

"That's wonderful! Wait – why is Maria coming with you?"

Georg cringed a bit at his slip of the tongue, but recovered himself. "She herself was going to Rouen to see some family she has there, so I offered her a ride. Is that so wrong?"

A pause and then a sigh from Max. "No, it's not, Georg."

Georg had the intuition that his friend wanted to say more on the subject, but didn't allow him to continue. "I'll talk to you soon, all right? I've got to go."

"All right," said Max, sounding resigned. "Have a good time tonight."

"I will," said Georg, and hung up the phone. He felt restless all of a sudden, and decided to take a walk along the river. But just before he left, the telephone in his room rang to life for a third time that morning. Now he felt _sure _that this _had _to be Maria. I mean, who else would call him while he was here?

So he went to the phone and eagerly picked it up with a smile. "Hello?"

"Father, it's Liesl."

His smile melted away. Liesl? This voice was Liesl? Her voice surely didn't sound that mature, that age, the last time he had spoken with her…when _was _the last time he had spoken with her? "Liesl?" he said almost timidly in his shock.

"Before you get angry that I'm calling, please just hear me out; there is a good reason. It's Marta; she's sick with the flu that she picked up from one of her friends. She's going to be all right, but it's very uncomfortable for her. She's afraid to eat for fear that it will just come back up again." Liesl sighed. "I know you don't want to be bothered about us, Father, but we don't know what else to do. I think, if you talk to her, she will listen to you. Please, Father…"

Georg was in such a state of shock that being angry never came to his mind. All he could do was collapse into the chair by his bed, press the phone closer to his ear, and listen to the words Liesl was saying. Marta…she would be six years old now…"Put her on the phone," he finally managed to say.

He heard a relieved sigh on the other end (which made his heart twist), and, after a few moments, he heard a small, raspy, timid voice say, "Father, is that you?"

Georg felt his heart break at the sound, because it was so unfamiliar. "Yes, Marta, it's me."

"I'm so sorry, Father, I didn't want to get sick and bother you, I really didn't," the small voice pleaded, close to tears, and his heart broke even more. It wasn't until this moment that Georg realized just how much trouble his relationship with his children he had put it in.

"Marta, you have nothing to be sorry about, nothing at all." Georg's tone was very close to pleading now. "No one wants to get sick; it's not fun to be sick, for anybody. All right?"

"All right," said Marta. A pause followed. "My stomach really hurts, Father."

"I know, sweetheart, I know," he murmured, his vision becoming blurry. "Just listen to Frau Schmidt and do whatever she tells you, even if it means taking medicine that may not taste good. And eat what she gives you, too; she wouldn't give you anything to make you be sick."

Marta gave a shaky sigh. "Yes, Father…why are you being so nice to me?"

Georg fought against the huge lump that was forming in his throat so he could speak the words that were three years overdue. "Because I love you, Marta. I know I've been horrible about showing it, but I never stopped. Please believe me when I say that." Now he really was pleading, because it was now a choice between pleading or sobbing.

"I…I love you too, Father," said Marta, sounding truly relieved and happy, despite the weakness and raspiness of her voice. "I promise to try and be better by the time you get home."

"All that matters to me is that you get better, and you will," said Georg with resolution. "Just keep resting, drink plenty of water, eat and take whatever Frau Schmidt and the doctor give you. Now get some rest, my sweetheart."

"Yes, Father," she said, and he could hear she was smiling. "Please come home soon."

"I'll be home Sunday evening, Marta, I promise," he said with even more resolution. "Good-bye, my Marta."

"Good-bye, Father," were the last words he heard before the line went dead.

A moment later, Georg was rushing out of the hotel feeling like he was going to either shatter or explode.

* * *

Maria spent the first part of her first day off sleeping in until ten, having a nice long bubble bath while reading, treating herself to lunch at her favorite bistro, and getting some fresh fruits at the market for the fruit salad she would make for the potluck dinner tonight. Since she would not see Georg today (which depressed her quite a bit), her afternoon plans consisted of three things: making the fruit salad, giving her apartment a scrub-down, and call her grandmother. The third task scared her the most, so she decided to save it until the last possible moment.

As Maria entered her apartment again after shopping, the sound that greeted her was the shrill ringing of her telephone. Quickly, Maria put her basket of fruit on the table as she made her way to the active instrument. She picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Oh, good, Maria, you're there."

Her first thought was, _Has my phone been ringing that long? _Her second thought was that she realized it was Georg…but something was wrong. She could hear in his tone that he was trying to sound normal, but she could hear the relief in his voice upon her answering and a hint of near desperation that worried her.

"Georg, is that you? Is something wrong?" She knew that was a risky thing to ask. After all, he was meant to call her today anyway. But his tone just did not sound right, plain and simple.

In response to her question, his reaction only made her more worried: he laughed, almost hysterically, for a minute. _Yes, something is definitely wrong._ "I…I don't even know where to begin with that question," he finally managed to say through his laughter. When he managed to sober his voice, he said softly, almost pleading, "I don't know if you're already busy, but…I would really like to see you…something's happened and I don't…"

Now Maria was very worried, hearing his voice catch and his shallow breathing. She sat down at her table and gripped the phone tightly, speaking in as calm and soothing voice as she could. "Georg, keep breathing, slow and steady. I'm not busy until this evening, so of course I'll come. But where are you?" Throughout the conversation, she could hear the hustle and bustle of a Paris street. So clearly he was calling from a telephone booth outside.

There was silence for a minute, and Maria had a bad feeling that he was looking around to actually see where in Paris he was. Finally, he spoke, "I'm near Notre Dame. Could you meet me in the south bell tower?"

For a moment, Maria hesitated at the thought of going to Notre Dame. That was the one place in Paris that she had purposefully not gone near in the year she had been in the city. But that only lasted for a second; Georg was really in distress, and it would be the epitome of selfishness to ask him to come to her. "All right, I'll be there as soon as I can, just…be there, all right? I'm on my way."

"Thank you," he said with relief and gravity before the line went dead.

For a moment, Maria just sad there in shock, just to hear Georg like that. She may have only known him for two and a half days, but Maria could sense that he rarely lost composure in any way. She only allowed herself a moment to be shocked, and then she quickly got up from the table, put the fruit in the refrigerator, grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

Because she made a point to avoid Notre Dame, and because of the urgency of the situation, Maria hailed a cab to take her there. On the way, Maria contemplated what he meant when he had said something had happened. Obviously, he wasn't seriously injured, or else he would have been calling from the hospital. Perhaps something had happened to his friend here, what was his name? Claude? _Mmm..but then he would want to be with him, not wandering aimlessly around the city. _The most logical option would be that something had happened at home, with his family possibly. And perhaps that would mean he wanted to meet to say good-bye. Maria felt great sadness at the thought. _Oh, I don't want him to leave yet…_

But before she could dwell anymore on the fact that he was only here for a week, the cab stopped just outside of Notre Dame. Shaking herself slightly to get back to reality, Maria paid the driver and got out. She had to crane her neck back to take in the huge cathedral. Up close it seemed a lot larger and foreboding. She felt some king of force around her heart, but she felt too intimidated to tell whether it was pushing or pulling. The thought of Georg gave her the courage she needed to walk up to the huge doors and push one open.

The smell of incense immediately came to Maria's nose before her eyes could focus on anything. And when her eyes did focus, they widened immediately at the sight of the interior, which was just as grand and beautiful as the exterior. Her ears were opened too, and she could hear the sound of men chanting in Latin. They were at the other end of the cathedral, but the stone and vast space allowed it to echo easily back to her.

Maria felt an impulse to run from the building, but the tug on her heart was definitely a pull, and the thought of Georg only added to that. Slowly, timidly, Maria walked further into the cathedral, almost entranced.

It had been more than a year since she'd set foot in any kind of church, and that was on purpose. This cathedral was certainly bigger and grander than any she had been in, and certainly the most beautiful. The combination of the many candles and the sun streaming in through the stained-glass windows was breath-taking, the light and shadow dancing off the beautifully crafted stone all around. Squinting, Maria could see a group of priests at the very distant altar, chanting. She was glad it was a group of men singing rather that a group of women; that would hurt too much.

Scattered in pews and at various shrines were people kneeling and hunched in deep prayer. One in particular caught her eye. It was a teenage girl with braided blonde hair. She was kneeling, almost completely hunched over, before a beautiful statue of the Blessed Mother and her infant Son. Sunlight poured through a stained-glass window onto the statue, making it look truly beautiful and almost ethereal. The sight of the girl in that position before that statue brought tears to her eyes and pained her heart – because that used to be her.

Maria angrily tore herself away and, determined that nothing else in this place would seduce her, made her way to the doorway that led to the south bell tower. There were a lot of spiraling staircases to climb until she reached the very top, and walked into the open air. "Oh, my…" she breathed, having never been in any building at this height before. She walked to the stone railing and looked out over Paris. It was breath-taking, truly breath-taking in the early afternoon sun.

Out of her peripheral vision, Maria saw a dark shape hunched near a gargoyle, almost mimicking the gargoyle's hunch. Turning her head, she saw it was Georg. He was leaning forward, his forearms on the stone railing and his hands clasped together; his head was bowed so low it nearly touched his forearms.

The young woman approached him cautiously and slowly, reminding herself that _he _had asked _her _to come, not the other way around. When she stopped right beside him, Maria gently put her hand on his. She was glad he did not flinch, or recoil, or give any surprised reaction; he must have heard the door and her footsteps.

Very slowly, Georg lifted and turned his head so he could meet her gaze. Maria had to fight very hard to hold back a gasp. Though his eyes were the only indications that something was wrong, it was more than enough. The red tinged with the white told Maria he had been crying, and the expression in the blue reflected an agony. Seeing this, Maria knew that to ask if anything was wrong would be superfluous; he had asked her to come, not vice versa, and so she let her eyes voice the concern and compassion she felt for this man.

It seemed like forever until he moved, and when he did it was a deep sigh. Then he spoke in a tired, strained voice. "This is the first time in hours that I have felt some semblance of calm."

Maria gave a small smile. "I'm glad," she replied sincerely.

Georg looked down at their hands, and tenderly grasped her fingers. "Thank you for coming," he whispered as he brought her hand up to his lips, and kissed her fingers tenderly.

"When a friend needs me, I come no matter what," Maria replied simply, bringing those fingers up to caress his cheek just as tenderly.

Georg covered that hand, pressing it closer to his cheek, inhaling the scent of her skin like a balm. A tear slid down his exposed cheek, and Maria brought up her free hand to tenderly brush it away. She felt his cheeks heat up beneath her palms, and he kept his eyes downcast. _He's embarrassed, _she realized, which didn't really surprise her – and thankfully did not annoy her. _He wants to talk, but he's embarrassed and therefore retreating. He needs to feel safe._

And Maria knew exactly where he could be. So she decided to take him to a place she had never taken him before.

She let her hands leave his cheeks and took his hands again. "Follow me," she said softly, her beautiful eyes shining with reassurance and comfort. "Trust me."

* * *

The words Maria had used reminded Georg of the words he had used just before their date. She'd trusted him then, so he decided to trust her now. He nodded and she led him out of the bell tower and Notre Dame altogether. They'd taken a cab to a beautiful, wooded park which Maria led him into. He didn't feel apprehensive when she led him off the path and into the woods, for she seemed to know exactly where she was going.

When they came to a clearing through some tall hedges, Georg couldn't help but gasp. There before them was a beautiful stretch of green grass in the afternoon sunlight, just before a running brook that made beautiful sounds as the water rushed and skipped by over the stones. Maria smiled at him when she heard his pleased gasp, and led him to a beautiful cherry tree, the pink blossoms just beginning to fall, and they sat down in front of the trunk, facing the brook. Maria sat facing him, took his hand in both of hers, and looked at him with that same expression of comfort, patience, and compassion.

Georg had never felt more grateful to anybody. How was it that she knew exactly what he had needed to feel at ease? When he had initially called Maria, all he had been hoping for was just to see her, feeling that just that would ease his spirit. While that had happened, he felt compelled to do more now – he felt compelled to talk. And her expression told him that she would listen.

"When my wife died…" Georg could hardly believe the first words that came out of his mouth, and he paused. It confused him because he wanted to talk about the call he'd received from Salzburg. But he realized he was starting the right way; the only way Maria would understand was if she had the whole story, and though he was frightened it would paint him as a monster (he certainly felt like a monster) in her eyes, he needed to talk. He'd needed to talk for three years, and he hadn't felt safe to do so until now.

"When my wife died…it nearly destroyed me. Having lived through scarlet fever as a boy, her dying never crossed my mind until the very end when it was too late. After that…I couldn't look at anything without being reminded somehow of her, it was so painful…especially our children…I could sell the house and pack a lot of things away, but the children…"

He felt his throat beginning to choke up again but fought against it, knowing he needed to acknowledge what he had done. "I distanced myself from them in every way to avoid that pain. Not only did I escape to Vienna a lot, but at home I barely ever acknowledged them…I reverted to my military background so I could have some kind of structure in my life I felt I could control. I had the children wear sailor uniforms as day clothes, I taught them how to march and stand straight in lines when I addressed them…I forbade music and play from the house and I…I even trained the children to respond to _whistle _signals!"

How hard it was to admit to all of that! And saying it out loud for the first time made him see how awful his behavior had really been. To add to that, a lot of what he was saying, especially at the beginning, he had only discovered today as he had wandered aimlessly around the city not really seeing anything. While saying all of this made him feel disgusted with himself, he also felt some kind of weight beginning to fall off his shoulders.

Though he was afraid to meet Maria's gaze, he did. Her eyes were filled with tears, and the blue in her eyes were fiercely shining. In them he could read, not only sympathy for him, but sheer surprise at his actions; he could see she was taken aback hearing them, and not in a good way. Before that could manifest into disgust, Georg knew he had to try and prevent that. He covered her hands with his left hand, which were gripping his right hand, and leaned forward slightly so she could more clearly read his eyes.

"Please, Maria, you must know that I never, _never _stopped loving my children. I didn't just do what I did to help myself; I delusional thought I was doing it to help them. I thought, my treating them with maturity and no nonsense, they would grow up stronger and not be affected by any great pain in their lives the way I was…the phone call I received this morning proved to me that I've made terrible choices."

Georg saw the shock in Maria's eyes change to gentle curiosity, urging him to speak. Finding some courage in that, Georg lowered his gaze to their hands so he could find further comfort in them as he spoke. "I got a call from home this morning. My oldest, Liesl, told me that Marta was sick with the flu, and to please talk to her and comfort her. Marta is my second youngest, six years old…the shy, quiet one…I spoke to Marta, being as comforting as I could and telling her to just do whatever our housekeeper and doctor wants her to, and…she apologized for being sick as if it were her fault, didn't know why I was being nice to her, and…both she and Liesl said that they knew this would bother me…as if I would care whether one of them were sick or not when I lost my own wife to sickness!"

He could feel himself beginning to lose composure and control again. Maria's hands immediately came up to his face, rubbing his temples with her thumbs. Her other fingers stroking his hair, she wordlessly brought her head to rest on her shoulder, and Georg gladly gave no resistance. He wrapped his arms around her back and brought them up to grip her shoulders as he shook with dry sobs. His tears had already come out that day – against his will – and he had no more to give. That he was grateful for, because it seemed the rest of his body had lost control.

Maria soothed him with her hands stroking his face and hair, and soft sounds and words of comfort, reminding him to breathe slowly and evenly, telling him to just let it out, and that she was right here and not going anywhere. She became Georg's anchor in so many ways: her words, her physical contact, her scent, and, more than anything, the knowledge that she felt genuine compassion for him and was not running from him in disgust – God knows he would not have blamed her.

Finally, he felt himself become calm and in control again, and pulled away from the comfort she was providing for him. He didn't feel embarrassed, really, because he felt safe in this secluded place with her; what he felt was confused about her. "You should hate me…after what I've done."

Maria turned her head away and gave a deep sigh, her hands folded in her lap as she watched the brook. Georg felt very apprehensive, for he did not know what she would say or do next.

At length, she spoke. "I know more than some how it feels to be in a home where the person who is supposed to take care of you seems to not give a damn about you…but I also know what true grief is like, and how it can nearly destroy someone." She paused again, and she seemed to struggle with finding the right words. Wanting to return the favor and now give her some comfort, Georg gently placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"I told you scarlet fever took my parents. I was eight years old and it was devastating. The only ray of hope that I had when they died was the possibility of living with my maternal grandmother, who was French and is from Rouen. I'd met her on a visit once when I was little, but I loved her very much after just that week. But…I was sent to live with this uncle I never knew I had, and he told me she had died the previous year…so I had to live with him, and he…was _not _a nice man, in any way…"

Her jaw clenched and she became silent for a moment, before she almost violently shrugged his hand off her shoulder. She then rolled up the sleeve of her dress until her shoulder was exposed, revealing scars that had once been nasty cuts. "For an alcoholic he could have good aim…I trust I don't need to give any further explanation?" Her voice was hard, tight, clipped, as if daring him to recoil from her.

Georg wanted to do nothing of the kind. _My God, what has she gone through…_he thought, looking at her scarred shoulder. Acting on impulse alone, he put a hand on her back to steady himself; then he leaned forward and gently kissed her shoulder.

The act seemed to soften her, and her eyes filled with fresh tears. Blushing, she lowered her sleeve again. "Mostly he ignored me, and really didn't give a damn, which was lucky. I was an angry child, and often ran off to my mountain, climbed a lot of trees, was always falling down; a very rough tomboy was I, running and singing and reveling in my mountain. But when he did notice me, he rarely managed to catch me…but sometimes he did."

A lone tear slid down her face and, again returning the favor, Georg tenderly brushed it away. She gave a shaky sigh and resumed speaking in a more sure voice. "One night, when I was nearly twelve years old, he beat me worse than he ever had, and I ran away. I just couldn't take it anymore, and ran to the police. The courts broke his custody and guardianship of me, and I was placed in the orphanage run by the sisters of Nonberg Abbey…it was there where the sisters and many of the other children helped me heal and let go of my anger, and help me see how blessed I really was."

Maria turned her head to look at him again, meeting his gaze. "I could never judge you or reprimand you, Georg, for what you did in grief. I've been there, and I know that people in that much pain must be cut some slack, as the expression goes." She finished speaking, and shyly rested her head on his shoulder to indicate that.

Georg wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned against the trunk of the cherry tree, bringing her easily with him. She settled against him, draping an arm across his abdomen. They reclined in comfortable, healing silence for a while, just watching the sunlight sparkling on the waves and listening to the singing brook.

"This place is beautiful, Maria," murmured Georg finally, resting his cheek on her soft hair. "How did you discover it?"

"My first week in Paris, I was just exploring and came upon it, subsequently falling in love with it," she replied. "I come here when I need to feel safe, when I need to find peace."

Georg felt honored and touched at her gesture. "Thank you for showing it to me," he said tenderly, and kissed her head. Maria smiled at the feeling. After another long pause, Georg spoke softly again. "I don't know my children…and I haven't let them know me…Maria, do you see any hope that they could forgive me?"

He felt Maria nod on his chest. "I don't know your children, but the fact that they called you, that Marta took comfort in your words, shows that they_ want_ your love and your attention. And the fact that you can now acknowledge your mistakes and not deny them, that you want to rebuild your relationship with your children, you've already won half the battle. Of course there is plenty of hope, Georg."

He hugged her closer for a moment in gratitude.

She then asked at an attempt at being nonchalant. "Does this mean you will go home earlier?"

Georg thought for a moment before slowly saying, "No…I feel so raw today and I'm not quite ready yet. I don't yet feel strong enough." Georg lowered his head to meet her gaze teasingly. "Are you happy about that?"

Any other woman he knew, who had more experience with men and how to dance this dance, would have given a flippant and just as teasing reply, such as "Perhaps," "Maybe," or "Wouldn't you like to know?"

But Maria let her eyes and one word give an honest answer. "Yes."

Georg suddenly had a very strong and powerful urge to kiss her lips, something he'd been longing to do for the past three days. But just after she spoke that word, she had turned her face slightly into his shoulder, obviously a little embarrassed at her blunt answer. So he kissed her temple instead.

* * *

After a moment, Maria abruptly lifted her head. "What time is it?" she asked with wide eyes.

Georg pulled out his golden pocket watch and opened up. "Half past four, why?"

Maria covered her mouth in shock. Where had the time gone? "I have a potluck dinner with my friends at six and I haven't made my fruit salad!" She nearly stood up to run home, but then she looked at Georg. After how they had opened up to each other, especially him, Maria just couldn't leave him or send him on his way. She wanted this to end today on a lighter note than how it had begun. So she said, "Do you want to help me not be late for once in my life?"

Georg smiled and helped pull both of them to their feet. "Lead the way."

The park was only a block away from Maria's apartment, so their walk there was very short and quick. Maria unlocked her apartment door and led him inside. She let him look around the main rooms while she pulled out the fruit and knifes.

"This fits you," said Georg approvingly with a small smile.

"Well, thank you," replied Maria, smiling back. "Come here and help me now."

Maria was about to show Georg what to do when he just took a knife from her grasp and said, "I _have _worked quite a few shifts in the galley, you know." This made Maria laugh and both went to work. They didn't speak much but smiled often at each other. Maria would occasionally slap his arm playfully when he snuck a piece of fruit for himself. Together, the task was accomplished fairly quickly, and Maria made him a cup of tea in thanks.

As she handed the cup to him – he sat at the kitchen table – her eyes fell on her telephone, and an ice cold feeling entered her chest as she remembered. She had completely forgotten!

"What's wrong?" asked Georg, who had noticed how dramatically her face changed.

Maria sat down heavily in the seat beside him at the table. "I…I completely forgot I have to call someone today. It's the person I'm meeting tomorrow in Rouen, to warn them I am coming because they don't know yet…"

"May I ask who you are meeting?" asked Georg cautiously, a fear rising that this person would be of the male gender.

But then she responded softly, "My grandmother."

He was surprised. Yes, she had told him she had a grandmother who was from Rouen, but…"But you said she was dead."

Maria shook her head. "I was _told _she was dead, by the uncle who made my life hell. I was looking for where she was buried and only recently found out that she is alive, and that I was lied to. I want to let her know that I'm coming to see her…but I'm afraid. There are so many questions I want to ask, but not over the phone."

Georg listened to all of this and nodded slowly. He then said, "I could make the call for you, right here."

"Oh, no, Georg, I couldn't ask you to do that –" began Maria, whose eyes had lighted up at the suggestion though she tried to hide it.

Georg held up his hands and stood up, saying, "No, Maria, I want to. You've done so much for me today, please let me do something for you. Where is the telephone number?"

Maria couldn't deny that the idea appealed to her so, thinking it best not to argue, pointed to the letter which rested on her countertop. He picked it up, looked at it, picked up the phone and dialed a number. As he waited for an answer, she sat stiffly at the table, watching with baited breath.

"Hello, is this Gabrielle Kutschera?...My name is Georg Von Trapp, and I'm calling on behalf of a friend. Do you know a Maria Rainer?...Excuse me?...No, Madame Kutschera, you are mistaken. Your granddaughter survived her parents and is very much alive today. In fact, she had been told that _you _were dead…By her uncle…Yes, she is in France now and has been looking for you, and has only recently found out you were alive and well. She would very much like to see you, and will be in Rouen tomorrow, if that would…" Georg smiled. "Excellent, I will bring her personally to you…No, I will not lose her on the way, I promise you…We will see you tomorrow, and thank you…_Au revoir."_

Smiling, Georg hung up the phone and then smiled at Maria. "She can't wait to see you."

Maria had listened to this one-sided conversation silently, able to gather from it that her grandmother had not forgotten about her or ignored her at all – she had believed her dead, just as Maria had believed her dead. And her grandmother loved her and wanted to see her…she still had family alive who loved her. Overwhelmed, she covered her face with her hands.

She heard and felt Georg approach her. He knelt in front of Maria and gently lowered her hands so he could look into her eyes. "There is hope for you, too," he said, echoing her own words back to her.

Maria gave a watery smile and leant her forehead against his as they held hands for a long moment.

* * *

"So, you'll be able to come on Saturday night?" asked Claude with a smile from the opposite end of their table.

"Yes, absolutely, and I'll pass the other two" said Georg, taking the tickets Claude was handing him. "And I will definitely ask Maria to come with me. "And I'll be honest, Claude. If she can't come, I'll still be there, but I won't have nearly as much fun."

Claude gave him a knowing smile. "Sounds like you care about her a lot, my friend."

During their dinner conversation, they had done a lot of catching up, and Georg found that telling the story of his wife – whom he had met less than a month after his first week in Paris so long ago – and his children was easier now that he had already told it to Maria. Claude, despite his bravado and extroverted personality, had listened. He'd always known his friend was, at heart, a one-woman man and not a confirmed old bachelor like himself. The women he'd been involved with when they knew each other had all been mere substitutes for that something stronger Claude knew he had been searching for. The story of Agathe had pained him to hear, and he hoped that this Maria could fill that void he knew was inside this man.

In response to Claude's question, Georg grew reflective and nodded his head slowly. "I can't find the words to explain what I feel for her. It's only been three days, for God's sake! The first moment I met her, I was immediately struck: an Austrian woman in Paris who was not a visitor. The more I got to know her, the more I realized how much we have in common, how much we can understand each other…how much she represents all I want…all I need to be…"

"You're frightened, aren't you?" asked Claude, causing Georg to look up in surprise. He had forgotten Claude's amazing ability to read people, despite his charm and extravagance.

Georg sighed. "I won't deny that the thought of leaving Paris, more specifically leaving _her_, does frighten me. Especially after today and how much more we've bonded. In over three years, I've never met a person whom I feel so…safe with, so comfortable with, and what I'm afraid of the most is what I could become when I lose her…"

Claude nodded in understanding. "Well, I think the both of you will need to have a talk before you leave, before you leave, and come to some kind of understanding. In the meantime, make the most of the time that you have together, whatever the future holds for the both of you."

Georg took these words to heart, where they stayed and helped him the rest of the week.

* * *

Maria could not stop smiling or blushing.

Georg had walked her to Adele and Nicole's building, the wrapped bowl of fruit salad in her arms. When she turned to him to say good-bye, she didn't know what to do since her hands and arms were occupied. But Georg took care of that. He had cupped her face in his hands very delicately, as if he were holding a flower. He had then kissed both of her cheeks lingeringly, pressed his forehead to hers, and whispered, "Thank you."

No one had ever said those words to Maria and meant them so much. Maria had pulled back, smiled at him, said, "My pleasure. And thank _you. _I'll see you at noon tomorrow." They nodded and smiled at each other before Maria went inside grinning like an idiot.

When she came into her friends' open apartment door, she found Adele, Nicole and Therese all looking at her with excited knowing smiles on their faces. Before Maria could become too confused, Therese pointed to the window of the apartment that faced the street.

That's when Maria had started blushing, because she realized that _they saw everything!_

All through dinner, the dominant questions were about Maria's date the previous night and what she and Georg had done today. Maria answered each question carefully, wanting to keep Georg's confidence as much as possible and following the golden rule. She was more open about their date last night than their get-together today, because of the nature of their conversations. As she told the girls as much as she could about Georg – such as his late wife and seven children – she could see that the girls were as shocked as she was to learn all of these things, particularly about the children. But, unlike her, they seemed to become…less enthusiastic about him than they had been before.

During coffee and dessert in Adele and Nicole's living room, Maria told all three girls excitedly the plans to meet her grandmother, and that she would be going to Rouen tomorrow with Georg to see her.

After giving her their congratulations and enthusiasm, it was Nicole who raised the topic for the final time that night, "Why is Georg taking you? Did you ask him or did he offer?"

"He offered," replied Maria. When she saw a troubled look cross all of their faces, especially Nicole's, she realized with horror what they were all thinking. She had heard enough stories about men taking advantage of women – Nicole had had one or two close calls. "Oh, no, you three, it is _not _like that! He has an old friend named Jacque in Rouen, who works as a painter, and was already going to see him when he found out I was planning to go to Rouen. So he is _just _giving me a ride which I'm grateful for!"

Maria defended him so fiercely that all three friends looked positively taken aback. "All right, Maria," said Adele, who was not used to having someone louder than her in the same room. "We just want you to be careful, and not be put into a situation where you couldn't say 'no.' After all, you haven't known him for very long at all, yet it sounds like you care about him tremendously already."

"Yes, I do," said Maria, who was not backing down; she _had _to make her friends understand and stop worrying. "I know you don't know him and haven't met him, but there have been at least two instances when he could have taken complete advantage of me and put me in that position if he so desired. But he never did; he has been nothing but a gentleman to me and I know he would _never _put me in a compromising position. Do you really think that a man who lost his beloved wife tragically would ever intentionally –"

Emotion was beginning to flood her voice, and Therese, who was sitting beside Maria, placed a soothing hand on her shoulder which stopped her speaking. "Maria, we do not intend to attack him or you. We're just voicing our concerns. Think about it: in the year we've been your friends, you've never been interested in any man. Now, you are so fiercely defending a man whom you have only known for three days."

Maria felt embarrassed and slightly ashamed now, and wiped her eyes while Therese rubbed her back. "I'm sorry…truly I am, if I seemed to attack you. I know I haven't known him for that long, but from the very beginning I've felt a…connection and understanding with him I can't really explain. Learning more about him, I've learned about how similar our trials in life have been, which could explain most of it." She looked earnestly at all of them. "I need you, ask you all, to just have faith in me and trust me. Haven't I proved up until this point that I would never lose my judgment or sense when it came to a man?"

All three of her friends smiled reassuringly at her, and Adele and Nicole came up to her to kneel in front of her, taking her hands while Therese still rubbed her back.

"You're right, Maria," said Nicole. "You _have _been very wise when it comes to men so far, something which I am quite jealous of. We have never doubted our faith in you."

"Absolutely not!" agreed Adele, nodding her head. "And we couldn't be more happy for you that you have finally found someone, Maria; we've been hoping for it for a long time."

"Perhaps our real concern is the fact that he is only in Paris for a week, and that week will reach the halfway mark tomorrow." Nicole's green eyes shone with compassion and worry for her friend as she spoke.

"And because he has such a large family back home who need him," continued Adele, squeezing Maria's hand, "that would certainly make any future contact with him, especially in person, sporadic and difficult."

Maria listened to all of this and gave a shaky sigh. Her eyes filled with tears again. "When I'm with Georg, my thoughts don't go beyond the present moment; there is just us. And I don't think either of us want to think about that until we absolutely have to. Honestly, I just want to make the most of the time I know we have together."

She looked at Therese for her opinion, for she had been silent for a while. Therese continued to rub her back soothingly as she spoke. "I think you're right, Maria. All I would suggest is that, before Georg leaves, the both of you have a talk that will clearly define where the both of you stand, so there will be no hurt feelings or broken hearts."

Maria nodded, knowing that was a wise option.

The four friends parted company on a new platform of solidarity for Maria.

"Have a wonderful time tomorrow," said Nicole, hugging her. "The fact that you have both Georg and your grandmother is a true blessing, Maria."

"And call us when you get back!" said Adele, who was the next to hug her. "We want to hear all about it!"

Therese was the last to give her a comforting hug and words of reassurance. "It's all going to work out and be alright, Maria."

And in the presence of the three greatest friends Maria'd ever had, Maria knew that Therese was right. She had to be.

* * *

**A/N: **_I hope you all are still enjoying this story; I appreciate any feedback I get._


	4. Thursday

**Thursday**

After his late dinner with Claude, Georg went straight back to the Ritz. Because he did not want to fall into a pensive or reflective mood – which, for him, could lead to a worrying or melancholy mood – he went to the intimate bar that held the grand piano he had fallen in love with. Feeling a little more confident about his abilities, Georg was able to lose himself in the music much easier than he had the previous night. And only when he ended a particularly tricky piece by Rachmaninoff did he realize he was no longer alone in the bar, because four handsome young men were cheering and clapping. He nodded his head and smiled bashfully in acknowledgement, inwardly rejoicing that he had not lost his music.

By contrast to the previous night, Georg had a solid nine hours of tranquil and dreamless sleep, and woke up feeling refreshed and ready for what he was sure would be a good day. He whistled through his morning routine, smiled through his breakfast, hummed as he packed his overnight bag, and left the Ritz with a spring in his step.

Thankfully, the process of renting and checking out a car was straightforward and not time-consuming. On the way to Maria's apartment, Georg picked up some French breadsticks fresh from the oven and also a rose for Maria – just because he wanted to. Georg could not remember a morning when he had felt in a better mood!

But when Georg arrived at Maria's apartment and knocked on her door, he saw when Maria opened the door that she had not had nearly as good of a night and morning as he had. He noticed the pale hue to her skin and the dark circles under her eyes immediately, and Georg was very glad he managed to control his eyebrows from rising.

Maria gave a weak smile at the sight of him and said weakly, "Come in," before stepping aside. Georg came in, not taking his concerned gaze off of her. The poor thing looked worn out and was trembling like a wet leaf.

Wanting to cheer her up, Georg showed her the wrapped breadsticks. "I brought some lunch for us. Do you want to eat it now or in the car?"

"Um…" said Maria, taking her breadstick. "In the car, I don't have much of an appetite right now…"

Georg then showed her the white and pink rose he had gotten for her. "And this is for you," he said softly.

Maria's eyes became overbright as she looked at and took the flower from him, pressing it to her nose as she inhaled the scent. "You're so sweet…" she whispered weakly, shifting her gaze to the floor.

Longing to learn the crux of her anxieties (though he could guess) and give her some comfort, Georg put his hands on her shoulders. He massaged them gently and she eventually raised her vulnerable eyes to his. "I'm sorry, I had a really bad night of sleep, and I feel so nervous now."

Georg nodded, and stepped forward so she could rest against him as he held her. He rubbed the tension from her back as she let out a few shaky breaths, her shaking slowly slowing down. "It's going to be all right," he said soothingly. "She can't wait to see you."

"Really? She sounded…excited?" Her voice was muffled against his chest.

"Oh, yes," said Georg, speaking truthfully as he remembered the telephone conversation he'd had with her grandmother. "She was so happy to hear you were alive, I heard her cry, I swear to you. She's very excited and probably just as nervous to see you."

Maria embraced him back tightly for a moment before extricating herself from his safe hold. She smiled at him, not shaking nearly so badly anymore. "Thank you. I'm ready to go now."

Georg returned her smile. Maria then put the rose in a vase, picked up her own small carpetbag, and led him out of her apartment, locking the door behind them.

Once in the car and on the road, they ate their breadsticks in silence. Maria, it seemed, had gained her appetite back, and it didn't take either of them long to finish the delicious French bread.

When they were finished, Georg remembered the offer Claude had made to him and spoke. "Maria, my friend Claude invited me to a private party he is hosting on Saturday evening, apparently on a lovely boat that will be going down the Seine. He asked me to bring a guest, and I would very much like it if you came with me. Would you?"

Maria looked at him in a little surprise and then hesitantly nodded. "I would be honored, thank you."

Georg smiled at her before refocusing on the road. "So, how long do you plan to stay in Rouen, then?"

"Well, this event on Saturday evening now gives me a better idea," replied Maria, settling back in her seat and closing her eyes. "I'll come back Friday so I can get together with my friends and we can figure out what I'll wear, because I've never been to a party on a boat before and I'll need some help."

Georg nodded, pleased. "I was only planning on spending one night at Jacque's anyway, so we'll leave tomorrow whenever you want to."

Maria smiled, her eyes still closed. "Thank you," she breathed. A minute later, she was asleep, despite the occasional bumps in the road. Georg, who had looked forward to their conversation on the ride over, was glad that he was not disappointed. She really did need some rest and to feel at ease. So he settled for glancing over at her every so often, happy to see her so at peace. More than once, he wished someone else were driving so he could hold her as she slept.

Georg was very thankful that he had his driving and map-reading to concentrate on, rather than that unsettling thought of doing something with her he had only ever done with his wife.

* * *

Maria woke up to the sensation of something warm brushing against her cheek. Opening her eyes, she saw that it was Georg's finger. The car was not moving though the engine was still alive, and Georg's gentle gaze was on her. "Wake up, Maria."

Blushing, Maria rubbed her eyes and sat up. She felt a lot better than she had when she'd woken up this morning, so though she felt a little embarrassed, she was glad to have gained some sleep. Looking around her, she saw that Georg had stopped the car on the side of a dirt road, which was surrounded on both sides by trees. He had stopped before another less worn dirt path which went to the right into the trees, off the main road. On a rickety wooden sign was painted "3064."

"We're…we're here?" said Maria, whose heart began to pound.

Georg nodded. "I won't drive down that road until you tell me you're ready."

Maria nodded slowly and took a few deep breaths. She remembered the telephone conversation that Georg had made for her, and all that she had learned from it. While she was nervous, she felt nowhere near the anxiety or hesitation she had felt prior to hearing it, because that conversation had wiped away her deepest fears.

Maria turned her head to look at Georg, resolution in her eyes. "I'm ready."

Georg reached out his hand to clasp her fingers and give her a smile. He then shifted gears and drove the car down the side path. After a few seconds on the rough road, a small, quaint cottage came into view. Ivy climbed up the light grey stone walls to the blue-tiled roof, and beautiful flowers surrounded the cottage. White curtains were drawn at the windows, and smoke rose from the tiny chimney. Georg got out of the car and opened the door for Maria, giving her his hand so she could climb out. She did, her eyes wide and taking in the cottage.

"It's just like I remember…" she breathed. She looked at Georg with nervous happiness in her shining eyes.

Georg cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead tenderly before pressing his own against it. Maria held his wrist as his hand caressed her cheek, expressing her thanks, glad he was not using words.

Eventually Georg pulled back. "I'll get your bag."

Maria nodded and turned towards the cottage as Georg moved away from her. Her hands shaking and her heart pounding, she took a few timid steps to the stone path that led to the front door. But she hadn't even started down the path before the painted red door opened, causing Maria to stop cold in her tracks.

The woman she was looking at fit her memory almost perfectly; the only differences she noticed was that her long braid of hair was a lighter shade of silver and there were more lines around her eyes and mouth. Both faces looked almost afraid of the great joy rising in both of them, and identical pairs of blue eyes stared at each other as they timidly approached each other. When they stopped in front of each other, Maria noticed that she now stood a few inches taller than her grandmother.

Her grandmother…she smelled just as she remembered as well, like lilacs and apples…

Both sets of blue eyes filled with tears as Gabrielle Kutschera raised her strong, wrinkled but warm hands to cup Maria's face. "Maria," she breathed, her French pronunciation stressing the first syllable rather than the second, and making the _r _nearly silent.

For Maria, that did it. The strongest memory Maria had carried of her grandmother had been her voice, whether singing or speaking; Maria knew she could never forget that voice. And hearing it again, Maria finally felt safe to rejoice.

"_Grandmère!"_

The grandmother and granddaughter embraced and cried in each other's arms, rejoicing that they were no longer alone in the world.

* * *

Georg watched this reunion silently, standing by the car. The sight warmed his heart and filled it more than anything had for years. It reminded him that there was still good in the world. Meeting Maria had helped his heart be open to that possibility in life, and how he saw undeniable proof. He felt a lump rise in his throat, but not a bad kind; he was very moved by what he saw before him, and he was so happy for Maria, knowing how nervous and anxious she had been. He felt certain that Maria would have a much better night of sleep tonight than she had the previous night.

Feeling that perhaps it was best that he not intrude upon such a sacred moment, Georg placed Maria's bag on the grass by the road and walked to his side of the car.

"Wait!" called Maria's grandmother – it had to be her for it was not Maria's voice. Georg turned his head to see both women looking at him. Maria's grandmother walked towards him, Maria following and holding her hand. "You are the one who called me yesterday? You are Georg Von Trapp?"

Georg nodded and took her free and outstretched hand to kiss it. "It is an honor to meet you, Madame Kutschera."

"Oh, thank you for bringing my granddaughter back to me!" said Madame Kutschera, taking his hand with both of hers and speaking with so much sincerity.

Standing close to her, Georg could easily see the family resemblance. The same bright blue eyes, the same facial structure and features – nose, lips, brow, rosy cheeks – though they were wrinkled now, and Georg knew that the long silver braid of hair had once been the same strawberry blond as Maria's. There were differences, too. Gabrielle Kutschera was shorter than her granddaughter now, and was a little more buxom and fuller in figure. Her voice had a deeper timber, too, but it was a merry, musical and rich voice that reflected the richness of her heart and soul.

Georg, feeling himself blush slightly, said humbly, "Don't thank me, Madame. I merely gave her a ride; I was coming to Rouen anyway to meet an old friend."

"If you are a friend of _ma chérie, _you deserve much more than thanks. If you are busy tonight, come tomorrow for a brunch, I insist."

Georg shifted his eyes to Maria, to see if she would like that or not; Maria smiled warmly at him, which was all of the answer he needed. He shifted his eyes back to Madame Kutschera and said, "Thank you, I would be delighted. Well, I will leave you two ladies to catch up. Good afternoon."

He again moved to open his car door. But once he opened it, he was stopped from climbing into the car by the feeling of a familiar hand covering his own. He turned his head to find Maria standing quite close to him, looking up at him with her blue eyes shining with a new joy he had not seen before, and gratitude also. Raising herself on her tiptoes slightly, she pressed her lips to his left cheek and softly said, "Thank you," after pulling away. Blushing, she quickly turned away and she and her grandmother walked away and into the cottage, arms linked.

Georg, smiling like a fool and with a very pleasant sensation on his cheek, drove away to Jacque's house.

* * *

Just like the outside, the inside of the cottage had not changed much in the nearly fifteen years it had been since Maria had last been inside. Gabrielle and Maria sat down on the worn but very comfortable sofa very close to each other.

Gabrielle again caressed Maria's face, wiping away the stray tears of joy that still came down. "Oh, _ma chérie, _God is good! I can't believe I've found you, and that you live! And you thought me dead, too?"

"Yes," said Maria, holding both of her hands. "It was just after they died I was told. I wanted so much to go to you, but…my uncle, when I met him for the first time, told me you had passed the previous year."

A great sadness appeared in Gabrielle's eyes, and she looked away for a moment to shake her head. "The last letter I wrote to my daughter…it must have been forwarded to him. He sent it to me with a small note saying all three of you had passed from scarlet fever…"

"How could he do that?" asked Maria quietly, more to herself than her grandmother. "How could he hate us both so much?"

Gabrielle gave a shaky sigh and turned to look at Maria again, an apologetic tear in her eye. "I'm afraid that has more to do with me than to you. I don't know if you ever learned this, but perhaps this will make things clearer for you. Your uncle is _not _my son, but my stepson. So he is really your step-uncle. He is the product of my late husband's, your _grandpère_'s, first marriage; I was his second."

Maria's eyes widened at this revelation, for indeed she had not known this. "No, I didn't…"

Gabrielle nodded. "I will tell you all I know, for you should have known long ago.

"Your _grandpère_, Hanschen, was an Austrian soldier. He married his first wife, Elisabeta, when they were quite young, eighteen or so. Hanschen often was away on duty, leaving Elisabeta alone most of the time. They had their first child within a year, a little girl I was never told the name of, but tragically she died within a few months for unknown reasons. As you can imagine, this caused a great sadness over them, especially Elisabeta. She sank into a deep depression she could never come back from, even after the birth of their second child, a boy, your step-uncle Bernhard.

"Hanschen was still often away, for he was a soldier and it was the only way he could make a living for his family. This left Bernhard alone with Elisabeta, who…was becoming frailer and weaker physically in her depression. And she could never quite bring herself to love Bernhard like he should have been…the death of her first child had scarred her permanently and I think it made her too afraid to love anybody again, even her own son. Years went by and she, unfortunately, passed away when he was about sixteen years old."

"Oh, how tragic," murmured Maria, her hand to her heart. "What a truly tragic story! Oh, poor _grandpère_! That must have broken his heart."

"Yes, it did," said Gabrielle, that sad look coming into her eyes again. "He felt terrible guilt about it, feeling that if he could have been home more, he could have helped her, but she was beyond help for years. There are some wounds that time can't heal, I suppose…"

Maria sighed, shaking her head at this sad truth. "For the longest time, I could never understand my uncle, what kind of demon could haunt him so. But I can begin to understand now...what was the relationship like between _grandpère _and him?"

Gabrielle looked as if she wanted to cry. "This is so sad, broke my dear one's heart to the very end. Hanschen loved Elisabeta, but the both of them were so young when they married and had no idea of what hardships life could bring, and they were dealt the worst card in the deck. Hanschen hated that he had to be away so much, but as a soldier it was his duty, and the only way he could make a living. As much as he wanted to help Elisabeta, he couldn't, and even if he had been home more, I don't think he could have.

"But Bernhard…he was devoted to his mother, even though she never him the love he needed. Because he was with her every day and was really all he knew, she was his world. He could never understand that his father did not choose to be away so much, but had to, and so when his mother died, he blamed Hanschen because he was hardly ever home. He blamed himself to, for not being able to help her and, though he could never admit it, ultimately angry at her for never loving him the way a mother should love her son. In the end, Hanschen was just the easiest person to put all of his anger on.

Until I came into the picture, that is, and I shared in that hatred. He was even more angry that his father could move on, and never tried to get to know me or like me at all. He ran away from home the day he turned eighteen, which wasn't long after Hanschen and I married. Your _grandpère _tried looking for him and contacting him, but either he couldn't find him or Bernhard refused to keep in touch.

"So, I suppose what he did to the both of us was his revenge and outlet for his anger. Like you, I can never completely understand how and why he let the darkness consume him so much."

Maria had now leaned her head on the back of the sofa, a little overwhelmed by this tragic story of her family, closing her eyes as a tear spilled out.

Gabrielle stroked her beloved granddaughter's face, wiping the stray tear away. "Was it very hard, my Maria? Believe me, if I had known, I would have come for you in a moment."

Maria nodded her head and put her head on Gabrielle's shoulder. "I can't lie to you, _grandmère…_it was very hard." And she proceeded to tell her grandmother about what had happened both when and after her parents died, though it caused both women to cry. After Maria had told Gabrielle what Bernhard had done that had caused her to run away and be placed in the orphanage, she held Maria tightly to her.

"Oh, _mon ange, _if only I had known! I am so sorry you had to go through such hell…you are safe now, safe with me, and always will be…"

Maria held onto her beloved _grandmère _tightly. "All that matters now is that we are together. That's what's important." She was right, and for the first time in her life, Maria felt she was home.

* * *

Jacque looked over his shoulder at Georg, a small smile on his face. "I've forgotten how disconcerting it is to have someone other than my wife watch me work, and even if it is her I still feel like I'm in a spotlight."

Georg chuckled but refused to turn his gaze away from the beautiful landscape that Jacque was painting. "I watch with an envious and admiring eye, old friend, not one that criticizes. All my life, I wished that I had been blessed with some kind of artistic talent; you're very lucky."

Jacque smiled at the compliment before turning back to his wide canvas. "I could easily say the same for you and your musical talent. I remember you playing the piano and singing in the pubs every night I knew you, and I felt very envious listening. So all is fair in the end."

Georg smiled, loving how Jacques had the unique ability to see everything with a clear and fair point of view.

Both had walked the short distance from Jacque's home to this beautiful wooded park – more of an open reserve – after spending the afternoon catching up with each other, meeting his wife Hélène, and having an early dinner with the both of them. Georg was happy to sit on a rock just behind Jacque's shoulder so he could watch both the beautiful sunset over the woods and clearings and Jacque put it on his canvas with his unique brushstrokes and paints.

"Your work is beautiful, Jacque," said Georg, looking at the painting before him and remembering those he had glimpsed in Jacque's studio. "Both your landscape paintings and your sketches of people. Which do you prefer?"

Jacque shrugged. "It really all depends on many things. My landscape paintings are my main livelihood and income, while my sketches are more of a hobby and more personal. I either sketch those who inspire me to draw, or I sketch on request, but those I usually do for either charity or as favors to friends. I always saw my sketches as something more…personal, so I'm more selective on whom I share them with."

Georg nodded. "I feel the same way about my compositions. Even before my wife's death and I lost my music, I very rarely felt confident enough to share my compositions with anyone, even her."

Jacque turned his head briefly to give him a look of sympathy and compassion. "The story you told me was very sad, Georg. It's awful, the loss and heartbreak you were put through. I only wish that I had not found my own happiness at the same time you had lost yours." When they had spoken of their lives, it was discovered that Jacque had met Hélène within a month of Agathe's death, though neither men knew it.

Georg smiled to himself at the compassion of Jacque. This compassion had been present even twenty years ago, when they were all young bucks, and as Jacque had matured and grown, so had that quality about him. "Peace-maker" could just as easily be his title, as well as "Artist." This compassion reminded him of Maria, who had shown that beautiful quality yesterday when she had come to him.

He spoke in a kind voice. "I could never begrudge you your happiness, Jacque, you who deserve it more than anyone. Besides, this trip to France had turned out to be the best decision I've ever made in my life."

Jacque chuckled. "I'm well aware of the almost magical qualities my country possesses, and I'm glad that you have begun to heal here. But you have yet to tell me what specifically you have found here that has made this trip the best decision of your life thus far. Was it something…or some_one_?"

Georg had to bite back his laugh, amazed at the insight Jacque was capable of having. Knowing he would never get away with telling a lie, Georg made himself more comfortable by sitting down on the grass and leaning his back against the smooth rock. He then proceeded to tell Jacque the story of the past four days and his interactions with Maria. He was a bit more open with Jacque than he had been with Claude; though the latter had as much understanding as the former, Jacque would make less jokes and give more gentle insights. As Georg told the story, Jacque finished his painting and, by the end of Georg's story, he was sitting down on the grass in front of Georg.

Jacque was silent for a few minutes after Georg was finished, his chin resting on his folded fingers. "Well," Jacque finally said, but he might as well have said _wow. _ "From the way you speak of her, it sounds as if you haven't met a person, but rather discovered a miracle of sorts."

Georg chuckled at the accurate description. "You're right, in a way. Ever since I met her, my whole outlook on life has begun to change. I've never met anyone so honest, so open, who wears their heart on their sleeve and is not afraid to use it to help someone. She was the first person to whom I could say what happened to my wife without it having to go through someone else. And, perhaps this was only a coincidence, but it was after I met her that I found the courage to really speak to one of my children and take the first honest look at the mistakes I've made."

Jacque nodded slowly at this information. "Coincidence or not, she sounds like a very special person."

The memory of yesterday coming to his mind, Georg said without hesitation, "Yes, she is."

"Is she going to be your guest on Saturday night?" asked Jacque, who was happy to learn of Claude's gathering on the Seine, and would be coming to Paris with Hélène for it.

Georg nodded. "And I'm glad of it, too. Even small parties make me slightly nervous and uncomfortable, even in the best of company, which I know I will be in."

A moment of silence passed before Jacque asked a question. "May I ask who exactly Maria is here to see? I might know them, for I know many people in this town."

Georg hadn't specified Maria's story with her grandmother, wanting to protect her privacy. But he remembered that Jacque was the last person who would gossip about anybody. So he replied, "Oh, um, Gabrielle Kutschera."

Jacque's eyes widened. "Madame Kutschera? She is the music director and head Sunday school teacher at my church. How does Maria know her?"

Glad that Jacque at least knew Gabrielle, he felt more comfortable in speaking. "She is Maria's maternal grandmother."

A huge smile lit up Jacque's face, and he let out a happy sigh. "Oh, this is wonderful! She is so beloved by our community for her generosity, wisdom and joyous faith. But she has been by herself for so long. Thank goodness she has found her family! If she doesn't deserve happiness than no one does."

Georg smiled. "It's been the same for Maria, from the information I've gathered. I witnessed their reunion, and I've never seen anything so…joyous."

Jacque's smile still remained. "It seems this is a true time of happiness, for you, for Maria and for Gabrielle. It's times like this when only the most cynical could say there is no God."

"Truly…" said Georg, his voice drifting slightly.

Jacque seemed to notice his mood shift to something contemplative, and thought it best now to leave him to his thoughts, as he would like to have been done if it were him. So he got up from the ground and carefully grabbed his painting and easel. "Well, I'm going to take this home to dry. You want to stay here a bit longer?"

"Yes, I think I will…I won't be back too late."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be up," said Jacque, which wasn't a lie: Jacque was a night owl. After he observed Georg's face and eyes get lost in his thoughts, Jacque walked away with a small smile on his face and a small prayer that Georg's thoughts would not become melancholy in his absence.

* * *

As Jacque came near one of the borders of the large reserve, he spotted two female figures coming up the path towards him. They had an arm around each other, and the taller, younger one was resting her head on the older woman's shoulder. He recognized the latter once he got a good look at them.

"Madame Kutschera!" he greeted with a smile once in earshot, walking more quickly towards them.

Gabrielle's face lit up in a smile. "Jacque! How wonderful to see you! Please, come here and meet my precious granddaughter Maria."

Jacque stopped in front of them, put down his painting and easel and looked at who must be Maria. She looked to be no older than twenty-one or twenty-two, and she was as lovely as Georg described, with big blue eyes, slender form, roses-and-cream skin and strawberry-blond hair cut short, which was very becoming on her. She smiled a shy but genuine smile at him, a stranger but not for long.

Jacque took her hand and kissed it. "Ah, yes, Maria. My old friend Georg has nothing but wonderful things to say about you."

Maria's eyes lit up at the mention of Georg, which made him inwardly rejoice that Georg had the same kind of effect on her that she had on him. "Oh, so you are Georg's friend he came to meet! He tells me you are an artist?"

"The most talented man in town, that is what he is!" exclaimed Gabrielle with a proud smile. She then turned her gaze to her granddaughter and addressed her. "And what a nice coincidence, that your Georg and Jacque are friends!"

Maria's cheeks flushed a bright red, and she lowered her gaze to the ground for just a moment. "He's not _my _Georg, _Grandmère_," she muttered. She seemed to regain her composure somewhat and get some confidence back as she addressed Jacque again. "Well, I'm glad that he was able to find you. He was very excited to see you again."

"Yes, I was as well," replied Jacque, acting as if he had not noticed Maria's blush or heard her muttering. "Well, I will be seeing you Saturday for Claude's party, at any rate. And I hope you will become a frequent visitor to our fair village."

"Oh, I plan to be," said Maria as her grandmother tightened her arm around her waist. "I want to come back on Sunday after Georg leaves, if I can."

"Well, my wife and I will be driving back to Rouen on Sunday, and we would be happy to give you a ride," said Jacque, happy to make the offer.

Maria smiled at the offer and so did Gabrielle. "Thank you, that would be wonderful!"

"Just be sure the both of you come back in time for the afternoon mass," said Gabrielle.

"Of course, we wouldn't miss it!" replied Jacque before he saw the look on Maria's face. She looked uncomfortable, and had lowered her gaze again and merely nodded to her grandmother's request.

Sensing her discomfort, Jacque thought that it was best he head home and leave the newly-reconnected family alone together. "Well, I'm going home. It was a pleasure to meet you, Maria, and I look forward to seeing you in a few days." They exchanged a smile and then Jacque embraced Gabrielle, whispering in her ear, "I'm so happy for you."

With that, he picked up his painting and easel again and walked away while the two women smiled and waved.

* * *

Georg stayed on that hilltop well after the sun had set fully and twilight had passed, and didn't walk back to Jacque's house until all of the stars were visible in the night sky. He had a lot to think about while he was up there.

For the first time since coming to Paris – or for several years, in fact – Georg was able to have a nice long chunk of time for introspection which did not end with him either drinking himself into a stupor, falling into regret, or forcing himself to sleep. Georg went through the major revelations he had made about himself during this life-changing trip, which wasn't even over yet!

Most of all, he thought of Agathe, and where he stood in his grief now. He thought of when he had told Maria, Claude and Jacque of her death these past few days. He'd always imagined that, whenever he would have to actually tell someone, it would be too difficult to get the words out. That's certainly how it felt three years ago. But now…

Looking back, Georg could conclude that his grief after Agathe's death had indeed been unbearable at first. As he had reverted to his militaristic strictness, buried so many memories and passions, and shunned his children, Georg had transformed himself into a mere shadow to avoid the unbearable pain of that grief.

But now, Georg realized on that hilltop that, in doing so, he had made himself ignorant of the fact that time was indeed healing him and his grief. If he was being honest with himself, Georg knew now that, if someone had asked about Agathe even a year ago, he would have been able to say the words just as he had three times in the past few days.

So why had he clung onto his denial and shadow of himself for so long, clung to his grief for so long? Now, he could finally answer these questions; he had the courage to answer these questions.

_Because I needed something to hide behind. Because I was afraid to acknowledge I was moving on, because moving on meant she wasn't coming back and I would have to start all over again._

He had been a coward. Seems he only had bravery at sea, and that disgusted him. He'd nearly sacrificed his children's love for this! How could he have been so stupid?

_You weren't stupid; you were and are only human. And just as humans are capable of being afraid, they are also capable of acknowledging it and becoming brave again._

Yes, it had been the greatest mistake of his life to stay like this for so long, hurting his children and his friends and, most of all, himself. But moving on…that was scary…did that mean he would now completely forget Agathe?

_Of course not! You will always love her, and she still loves you. But it's not the same love you once shared. She is no longer of this world, after all. You'll always love her, but you can let her go now._

And there, on top of that hill, Georg finally let himself remember all of the memories he had shared with her, and by doing that, Georg finally accomplished the hardest part of true love: letting go.

* * *

After their unexpected encounter with Jacque, Maria and Gabrielle slowly made their way back to Gabrielle's cottage in a comfortable silence and arms around each other. They had talked for a long time after the revealing story of her uncle, about what had happened to Maria after Maria was freed from her uncle's clutches. For the first time, Maria could talk about the struggles she had gone through in terms of her faith, which had been a ten-year journey. Her _grandmère_ listened mostly in silence, and Maria felt relief that she could finally talk about this to someone.

By the time they came back to the cottage, Gabrielle looked at her beloved granddaughter, who was looking weary from the walk and the story she had told, and knew exactly what to do.

She led Maria inside the cottage and upstairs to the attic. Unlike most attics, Gabrielle did not use hers as a dusty storage space and home for spiders. Her attic was, instead, her chapel, filled with beautiful religious relics and items that she kept in great condition. There were cushions on which to sit, kneel or lie down on, and a beautiful altar in front of the window. Gabrielle took Maria's hand as the younger woman looked around the room in awe, even nervous intimidation. "Don't be afraid, _ma chérie. _He's always been with you. Are you ready?"

Maria looked around the room one more time, her lower lip trembling, and then she nodded slowly. Gabrielle led her to two cushions right in front of the altar, and each took a kneeling position on one of them. From her dress pocket, Gabrielle pulled out two beaded loops that looked like cross necklaces but would never be worn as necklaces by any good Catholic.

She handed the rosary with blue beads to Maria, while keeping the rosary with green beads in her hand. Gabrielle smiled at Maria reassuringly before taking her cross between her fingers and beginning the Apostles' Creed, which begins every rosary.

At first, Maria merely listened to her _grandmére_'s beautiful voice in prayer, the familiar prayers coming back to her very easily. But when Gabrielle proclaimed the first luminous mystery, Maria found the courage to pray aloud with her, and they did so until the very end. Tears streamed down her face throughout the rosary, and when it finished, Maria collapsed upon herself in tears and sobs. Gabrielle guided Maria to rest her head on her lap, and she cried along with her, for the pain and struggle her granddaughter had been through in the years they had spent apart.

As Maria finally let herself cry without restraint, her _grandmère_, while holding her and stroking her hair, sang a lullaby that she had once sung to both Maria and her daughter. Maria was comforted and healed in only the way a loved one's touch, lullaby and love can give:

_Comme un petit point de lumiere_

_conduit les bateaux vers le port_

_je voudrais etre pour toi_

_celle qui t'eclaire, qui te veille_

_quand tout le monde dort_

_Je_ _voudrais n'etre qu'une etoile_

_Qui jour et nuit brille pour toi_

_Et meme si, quelque fois, danse un peu la flamme_

_On sait bien qu'elle ne s'eteindra pas_

_C'est tres banal comme programme_

_Pardonne-moi je n'ai rien invente_

_Mais_ _si un jour tu perds ton ame_

_Sache qu'il y a quelqu'un pour t'aider._

_Comme un petit point de lumiere_

_Celui que l'on n'oublie jamais_

_Je serai la, attendant,_ _au bord de la terre_

_A trembler quand tu disparais_

_A faire ce qu'il te plait_

_Je veux ce que tu veux_

_Pour que tu sois heureux_

_Pour que tu sois heureux..._

* * *

**A/N: **_This chapter ended a bit differently than I had originally planned, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The story is now over halfway done, and three more days of the week to go. Please keep up the wonderful reviews, they mean a lot to me!_

_My inspiration for Gabrielle Kutschera was inspired by the real Maria Von Trapp. Look up a video of her and Julie Andrews together and you'll see what I mean!_

_As for the French song at the end, a translation will be coming in the Saturday chapter, so please be patient!_


	5. Friday

**Friday**

Maria woke up Friday morning to two very pleasant sensations: the feeling of the sun on her cheek, and the distant sound of her grandmother singing. Maria had never had a better night of sleep, and, for the first time, she felt like she was waking up at home.

The memories she had of what happened after her grandmother had sung the familiar lullaby to her were slightly blurred. After the song was finished, Maria had felt completely soothed and very tired. Gabrielle had then led her downstairs into the guest room. Maria'd had just enough will-power to stay awake long enough to change into a nightgown and get into bed. Along with that, the room was dark and so she had no chance to look around.

After clearing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up to stretch, Maria did have a chance to look around the unfamiliar room. It was less of a bedroom and more of a storage room, filled with boxes, cases, photographs, and various objects she either did not or barely recognized. She had a great urge to explore, and decided to do just that.

Maria carefully got out of the comfortable bed and walked the short distance across the room towards an object that caught her eye more than anything else in the room. Kneeling down before the box it was placed on, Maria reached out and almost tenderly picked up what had caught her eye.

It was a doll. It was not one of those porcelain creations dressed in silk that are only useful to be put on display, but a stuffed doll that was nonetheless made with love in every stitch, from the chestnut brown hair of yarn to the simple blue and white dress it wore. The painted-on face especially made Maria smile: sweet pink lips, chocolate-brown eyes, and the drawn-on nose and eyebrows.

The sound of a familiar chuckle caused Maria to look up and see her grandmother standing in the doorway to the room, looking down at her with a radiant smile. "Good morning, _mon ange,_" she said as she knelt down beside Maria, drawing her in for a tight hug, which Maria gladly welcomed. After so many years of lies and separation, Maria knew that she would never tire of any of this.

After pulling away, Gabrielle chuckled again at what Maria was examining. "You've found one of my treasures. There's quite a sweet story behind this, you know."

"I would love to hear it," said Maria, who was still caressing the doll.

"Well, when your mother was about to turn five, her favorite book that her father would read to her was _Beauty and the Beast, _and she told him that she wanted a doll that looked like the main character. He came to me with the determination that this is what he would make her for her birthday – even though he did not know how to sew. So he came to me for lessons, and I helped him pick the fabric and materials, make the patterns and put it all together. I helped, but he did the bulk of the work. Personally, I love the way he painted the face, don't you?"

Both of the women laughed at how sweet the doll's face was, and the fact that it was a soldier's hand that painted and constructed this doll made this doll all the more endearing. "Oh, this is so sweet!" exclaimed Maria, hugging the doll.

Gabrielle smiled at the sight. "Yes, it is, just like you."

Looking more closely at the doll, Maria said, "I've seen this before…did I see it last time I was here?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes, and also when you were a baby. You see, my Hanschen died when your mother was pregnant with you, so I came to live with your parents for a short time when you were born. I helped your mother while your father helped me find a place to live here. They knew I wanted to go back home, and they understood why."

Maria nodded, wide-eyed, for she hadn't known her grandmother was there when she was an infant.

"If you are wondering why this doll did not stay with your mother and then you, it was because your mother gave it back to me when I left for France. She knew that I treasured every memory of your grandfather, and this doll was a very special one."

"I understand," said Maria softly, and the two shared another hug.

* * *

From there, Gabrielle and Maria moved on to look at other things in the room, though Maria unconsciously held the doll all the while. It turned out that this room had been the room that she and her parents had stayed in on that visit so long ago, only then Maria had not slept in the big bed but on a cot. After her parents' deaths, this room had become the place where Gabrielle kept all of the mementos of her lost family, from her husband to her daughter to her granddaughter. But they only scratched the surface, for soon Maria felt her bladder and stomach grow more demanding, having only just woken up.

After Maria had showered and dressed, she joined her grandmother in the kitchen and was taught how to make crepes, some with apples and cinnamon and some with chocolate and berries. Maria felt sure that Georg would like them.

As they worked, Gabrielle said to her granddaughter, "Tell me more about this friend of yours, Maria. He must be very special to you."

The young woman found herself blushing at the statement, for it was indeed true. For a moment, Maria was not really sure what to tell her grandmother, afraid that she would get a look of disapproval on her face; after all, he was a widower, father of seven, had only met four days ago and was only in town for two more. So, Maria decided to only describe Georg as someone who had become a very good friend, and this was true enough, right? Maria would just leave out certain things like the fact that she loved being held by him and that she was endlessly wondering what it would be like if he kissed her, not as a friend, but as something more.

So, for now, Maria decided to tell her grandmother certain things about Georg that he might not like to go into detail over during their brunch. "Well, he's a retired sea captain from the Austrian Navy. He's here for a week on a small holiday, where he's had the chance to reconnect with some old and good friends. He's also a widower of three years, and has seven children back home."

Gabrielle nodded slowly as she listened, and Maria was relieved to know that none of this information made her wary, only even more curious. "And when did you two meet?"

_Oh, please God, let her be kind…_ "Um, four days ago, I mean Monday."

For a moment, Gabrielle looked at her with raised eyebrows, showing her surprise but nothing else. Then that passed, and she said conversationally, "Well, it seems you two have really gotten to know each other in so short a time."

Because there was no disapproval in her voice, Maria was relieved, but she still felt the need to banish any possibility of her grandmother becoming disapproving or worried, so she said almost hastily, "Neither of us planned it that way; we just find it very easy to speak to each other, and he's been a perfect gentleman throughout. I feel I've made a very good friend, no matter the time frame."

Gabrielle just nodded and accepted this answer with a small smile. "Well, it warms my heart to know that such a good friend helped you come back to me; that is what really matters to me."

Maria gave her grandmother a relieved and happy smile just as a knock sounded at the front door. Maria gasped, realizing it was Georg, and suddenly she felt nervous. Her grandmother gently took her hands and said, "You go get the door, I'll finish up here."

The young woman nodded and, forcing herself to seem calm and collected, walked to the front door and opened it. There stood Georg, holding a bouquet of blue hydrangeas and wearing a light-grey suit minus a tie. Just the sight of him made Maria forget her worries and jitters, and instantly her face melted into a natural, happy smile. His expression mirrored her own when he caught sight of her. "Hello and welcome!" she greeted, filled with happiness to be with him again.

"I'm happy to be here," he replied, still smiling. There was something different about him, but in a good way, Maria noticed. He had a new glow about him, and he seemed more carefree, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"You're going to spoil me," Maria said as she pointed to the flowers, remembering her corsage and the rose from yesterday.

Georg looked at her, slightly confused but with a playful twinkle in his blue eyes. "Who says these are for _you?"_

Maria threw back her head and laughed. Finally, she stood aside and said, still laughing, "Come in, please come in."

Georg came in, smiling with satisfaction that he could make her laugh like that. As he passed her, Georg swooped in and gave her cheek a swift kiss, taking her by surprise and causing her to blush beet red. Trying to calm herself down, Maria rubbed her cheeks and followed behind Georg as he found his way into the kitchen.

"Welcome!" said Gabriella, clapping her hands at the sight of Georg. "And, my goodness, how lovely!"

"My friend Jacque told me to pass along his warmest regards," said Georg, handing Gabrielle the flowers. "He also to not come empty-handed, and I didn't want to upstage any of your cooking by bringing by one of my own concoctions."

Gabrielle laughed at the joke, and immediately went to put the flowers in a vase and fill it with water. "Such a lovely surprise you know our Jacque! He is this town's pride and joy, with his wonderful talents and vision. I see him every Sunday when he and his wife come to mass. You must tell me how you two met, but first let's get everything ready. Maria, please set the table, will you?"

Glad for an excuse to stay quiet and let her cheeks regain their natural color, Maria set about with her task, but the blush never quite went away as she felt Georg's gaze on her. And it was a good thing for her state of mind that she did not see Gabrielle notice her red cheeks.

* * *

"It was _not _your fault!" exclaimed Maria indignantly, as she and Georg were telling Gabrielle of how they had met. "I told you I should have been looking where I was going, carrying those boxes."

"Excuse me?" countered Georg, who was wearing a small smile on his face at their playful banter. "You expect yourself to have a clear view when you are carrying three large boxes in your arms, when I, who am carrying nothing, am completely innocent?"

"Well then, fine, we'll both take the blame," said Maria, throwing up her hands in surrender, smiling.

"Actually, I would like to take full responsibility," said Georg, with a straight face. "I could finally put my handkerchief to good use."

Maria threw her head back and laughed, and Georg smiled at the sight.

Both of them, in telling the story of how they had met, had become almost oblivious to Gabrielle's presence. She was watching the both of them closely, her suspicions becoming confirmed. All throughout their lovely meal, she had watched them out of the corners of her eyes. Now the plates were empty and the two of them had become so natural with each other, teasing and laughing and unconsciously flirting. Their chemistry had been palpable to Gabrielle even when they had talked about Jacque at the beginning of the conversation.

_No, these two could never be only friends_, Gabrielle concluded as she watched them continue to banter with a small smile on her face. It was undeniable, the attraction and chemistry between them even when all they did was look at each other. Perhaps both were unaware of it, but it was there. Gabrielle was not rattled by the fact that they had not even known each other for a week; she herself knew too well how quickly and powerfully two people could find each other and fall in love. _Yes, that is what is growing between them._

On one hand, Gabrielle was saddened at the thought that her granddaughter could, very soon because of this, grow more distant in her life after just reconnecting again. But the other, stronger hand knew that all she wanted for her beloved Maria was the same true love and happiness she had known with Hanschen. Throughout the meal, she had come to know this Georg a little more, and Gabrielle could see he was a good man, who's feelings matched Maria's (which relieved her). How the both of them would discover and deal with their feelings, when they found them, was up to the two alone, and Gabrielle knew that she would be behind her granddaughter one hundred percent.

Even so, Gabrielle knew it couldn't hurt to give the both of them a little, reassuring push.

* * *

After the meal had been cleaned up – Georg had insisted on helping wash the dishes – Gabrielle said, "Maria, why don't you go and get your things together?"

"All right," said Maria, smiling at the both of them before disappearing into her room. Gabrielle then turned to Georg, smiling at the way his eyes had lingered on Maria even after she disappeared. She placed a gentle hand on his arm, which brought him back to reality. He turned to Gabrielle and smiled at her. "Thank you so much for the lovely meal, it was truly delicious."

Gabrielle nodded, looking at him kindly. "I can never thank you enough for bringing Maria back to me, young man. And I must tell you: from my window, I saw you comfort my granddaughter before she came up to the cottage. I know she cares greatly for you, and it relieves me greatly that you care just as much for her. I am glad I've gotten to know you a bit, for it confirms in my mind that you are a good man, and will be good to her no matter what happens."

Georg did not expect this speech from Maria's grandmother, and went from shocked to very humbled that this wise woman would put such faith in him, especially when it came to her beloved granddaughter, whom she had only just reconnected with. "Madame Kutschera, the last thing I ever want to do is hurt Maria, who has helped me more than she can guess by just…being herself."

It was all he could say, but Gabrielle was more than satisfied. She squeezed his hand briefly and said, "I'm going to help Maria, and we'll meet you outside."

Georg nodded, and went outside, feeling a little overwhelmed at the blessing Gabrielle had just given him.

* * *

Gabrielle found Maria in the room, her packing finished and holding the doll in her hands, staring at it fondly. "I almost remember this now," she said softly, tracing the painted face. "May I take it back with me, _grandmére_?"

At one point in time, Gabrielle would have been hesitant to part from this doll, but now she couldn't be happier to just have someone to give it to. "Of course, _mon ange,_" said Gabrielle, smiling. "What else would you like to take with you?"

By now, Maria already knew what mementos of her family that she wanted to take back with her, including a dress that had once belonged to her mother. Gabrielle also gave Maria a small box of jewelry that had once been both hers and her daughters, now it would be passed on to Maria. "I'm so glad you are alive so I can give these to you."

Maria's eyes filled with tears, and the two embraced and kissed each other. Gabrielle whispered in Maria's ear, "He is a good man, Maria, and I can see what is happening between you two. Do not be afraid, _mon ange_, and follow your heart."

The young woman was surprised at what her grandmother said, and her only response was to hug her grandmother closer, knowing that, whatever happened, she had someplace to call home.

When Maria was finished packing, she and Gabrielle exited the cottage and put her things in the back of the rented car. Georg stood waiting for her by the car. Gabrielle embraced Georg and thanked him once again, and he did the same. She then embraced her beloved granddaughter, both happy in the knowledge that they would see each other in two days. Again, Gabrielle whispered in Maria's ear: "Don't be afraid, and listen to your heart."

As the two younger people drove away, the words of the wise woman rang in their minds, though neither of them spoke about it. Gabrielle waved them goodbye, a new happiness in her heart that she had not felt in years, and kept waving until the car had completely disappeared.

* * *

Thankfully, neither Maria nor Georg allowed those words to interfere with their easy conversation during the two-hour drive. Both of them filled each other in on what they did in Rouen when they had not been together, though Maria kept the part about reconnecting with her faith to herself. It still felt very raw to her at the moment. She enjoyed hearing about his time with Jacque and looked forward to seeing more of him tomorrow.

When they had finished talking about that, they recommenced the discussion of literature they had been holding up until Wednesday, and Maria read aloud from the novel she was nearly finished with. Georg had not read the novel in years, and resolved to do so in the near future.

In what seemed like no time, they were back in Paris. As Georg was driving up Maria's street, Maria squinted ahead to her building and gave a gasp. "Oh, no…what are they _doing _here?" she groaned in surprise.

"What is it?" asked Georg, who looked at her building as he pulled the car over. Sitting on the front steps were three young women: one with bright, auburn hair and a freckled face; one with wild, midnight hair and an elf-like face; and one with soft, brown hair and a gentle face. "Oh! Are those your friends you told me about."

"Mm-hm," said Maria, who looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole far away. "They're supposed to be at work until five o'clock, what on earth…" As the engine stopped roaring, Maria turned to him with a mortified, apologetic look. "I am so sorry for anything that is about to occur." With that she got out of the car, and so did Georg. "Girls!" she said, in merriment that barely concealed her terror. "What are you doing here?"

All three of them were smiling with satisfaction and looking between Maria and Georg. Nicole said, "Well, Madame Chaput was called away to her daughter, who's going into labor, so she's given us this afternoon and tomorrow off."

"But we agreed to get together here _after _five," said Maria. The previous day, she had called the girls and told them about the party she had been invited to and ask for their help in making something suitable for it. Because of work, they'd agreed to come to Maria's place straight from the shop. But now, here they were, and Maria had no doubt as to why they had come early: they'd known when she was coming back into town and wanted a better look at Georg. _Oh, God, make this quick and painless…_

"Well, we decided to take advantage of our free time so we can get the task done more thoroughly," said Therese, with almost an apologetic look for Maria that said, _It was their idea, I swear._

"And don't be rude, Maria," said Adele, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "Introduce us to your friend!"

Now Maria wanted to jump into the river out of embarrassment, and she shot a very apologetic glance at Georg, who looked a cross between amused and cornered. "Um, girls, this is my friend, Georg Von Trapp," she said, ignoring how all of the girls' eyebrows had shot up at her firm use of the word 'friend.' "Georg, this is Adele, Nicole and Therese."

"It's a pleasure to meet all three of you," said Georg, shaking hands with all three girls. "Maria's told me so much about you."

"And we've heard nothing but wonderful things from Maria about _you," _said Adele, with that same smile.

"Why don't we all go up, why don't we?" asked Maria in an almost sharp tone, as she got her things out of the back of the car.

"Yes, let's get right to work," seconded Therese, who was looking daggers at Adele. Even Nicole nodded. "It was a real pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, you too," said Georg, who could feel Maria's uneasiness and relieved that he was not going to be the subject of inspection. He turned to Maria. "Do you need help with those bags?"

"Oh, no, we've got them," said Nicole, as she and Adele took the bags from her hands. "We'll meet you up there, Maria, you two just…" At this point, Therese grabbed her arm and led the two of them inside, even as Nicole and Adele shot them backward glances.

Once they were out of sight, Maria gave a sigh of relief as she turned to Georg. "Well, that could have been worse…"

Georg managed to chuckle. "I've been through worse."

Maria gave a disbelieving chuckle, and said, "If they had been out here as long as they wanted to be, you wouldn't have said that."

An awkward silence descended upon the two, and Maria glanced behind her, fearful of the girls watching her with Georg as they had done on Wednesday. "Well…" she said, "I know where the party is, but when should I arrive?"

"Um…around seven, I would say," said Georg, a little confused. "Do you not want me to pick you up?"

"Well, it's just, I don't know when my dress will be done, and I don't want you to be subject to the inquisition," said Maria hastily, pointing behind her. They shared an awkward chuckle which led to another awkward silence. Maria really wanted to say a proper goodbye to him, she really didn't, but seeing her friends unexpectedly like that made her wary of being teased again. "Well…see you tomorrow then." She squeezed both of his hands and made her way inside of her building. She couldn't bear to look behind her, in case he looked disappointed or let down.

A bad taste in her throat, Maria glared at the girls, especially Adele, when she saw them waiting outside of her door. "Thank you, very much," said Maria sarcastically, as she moved past them to open her door.

"I'm sorry, Maria, we just couldn't resist getting a better look at him," said Adele apologetically, as the three girls followed Maria inside.

"You would be curious if it was Therese who was seeing a man, right?" asked Nicole, logically.

Maria couldn't deny this, and so she just nodded and began to open one of her bags. She stopped when she felt Therese pulled her into a comforting hug which then turned into a group hug. With that, all was forgiven between the four friends.

Once that was done, Maria resumed rummaging in her bag while Therese pulled the other two aside and the three of them conferred privately. They turned back to Maria and looked at what she was holding with smiles. "Oh, Maria, that's a beautiful dress!"

"You like it?" asked Maria, with a smile. "It was my mother's." The dress she was holding was indeed lovely, made of a light blue floral print, knee-length skirt, and lovely cape-like sleeves. Modest but lovely. "I know this isn't formal enough for the party, but I want the dress we make to be similar to and as lovely as this."

"What a beautiful inspiration!" exclaimed Nicole, coming closer to examine the dress. "I saw a fabric of the same color in the window of the fabric shop just this morning, remember Adele?"

"Yes, I remember it, too," said Adele enthusiastically. "It would be perfect for you, Maria, and match your eyes."

"Let's go and get the fabric right now," said Therese, and the other two nodded. But when Maria got up to go with them, Therese held her back. "No, Maria, we'll start the work tonight. You stay here and unpack your things. You can get together with Georg later, if you want."

"What, why?" asked Maria.

"I get the feeling we spooked the both of you," said Adele, looking a little guilty. "And I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between the two of you because of our insane curiosity."

Very touched, Maria hugged them all again and said, "All right, thank you. Come by tomorrow with everything around…ten o'clock?"

"Wonderful, we'll be here!" said Nicole. With a last goodbye, all three of them left Maria alone to unpack, which she did in very little time. Once that was done, she heard her small clock chime four times, and picked up the phone to call Georg. She indeed wanted to see him again and make up for what had happened in front of her building; she'd been planning on thanking him for all he'd done in the past two days and instead had been awkward and distant with him.

But when she phoned the number he had given her, it just kept ringing and ringing, which meant he wasn't there. _He probably has other plans with his friend, Claude, or something like that…_She swallowed the disappointment she felt that she would have to wait until tomorrow evening, which was a bitter pill to take indeed.

When she spotted her now-worn copy of _Notre Dame de Paris, _Maria decided how she would spent the last few hours of daylight.

* * *

After Georg had returned the car and unpacked his things at the hotel, he decided to take a long walk, for he had a lot to think about.

It was clear that the unexpected arrival of her three friends had unnerved Maria, for whatever reason, and he himself had been a little unsettled by it as well. Also, as he thought over Gabrielle's subtle blessing, he became even more unsettled. Though Georg really did not want to yet, he had to really think about where he wanted his relationship with Maria to go and come to some sort of conclusion.

So he walked. Walking – or moving in any way – was something that always helped his churning mind. As he thought over the past few days, it relieved Georg to know that, despite his own feelings and attraction for Maria, he had not said or done anything that had crossed the line from friendship into something more. If he kept clear of that line, than logically, he could part from Maria as good friends and nothing more.

That should be enough, right? After all, he was going back to Salzburg in two days and she would be staying here, especially now that she had reconnected with her grandmother. To pursue a relationship with her beyond friendship with their circumstances would be a big risk, a very big one, and perhaps a bit unwise. After all, he was a packaged deal, with seven children included, and Maria had not even met them and he had a lot of work to do in that area, anyway. Yes, it would be unwise to pursue anything more than friendship with her at this point. And besides, friendship was not something base or second-best or in any way inadequate. That should be enough…right?

But deep down, Georg knew that he wanted more with Maria, and that scared him. He hadn't felt so strongly for a woman since Agathe, and though he had resolved to move on, given their circumstances he couldn't see just how he could move on in the way he wanted to with her.

And besides, who knew if she wanted anything more than friendship from him? Perhaps the thought of something more scared her, for she had certainly been scared for him to meet her friends, and it unsettled her. Did she not want them to get the wrong impression of him? Did she not want him to become such a big part of her life?

These questions and trains of thought set upon Georg's mind like the plague, and he knew that he had to put a stop to it somehow. When he finally stopped walking, the sound of many bells ringing told him that Notre Dame was very close by. Deciding to enter into that sanctuary again, Georg made that his destination and walked the few remaining blocks to the beautiful structure.

Both outside and inside, Georg knew that this building was a true work of art. No wonder it took over two hundred years to build! Inside, a six o'clock service had just started and, eager for a distraction from his thoughts, Georg slipped into one of the back pews and attended the service. It had been some time since he'd been to church, and the experience of mass again was almost unfamiliar, like picking up a book you hadn't read in a long time and are looking at with completely new eyes. But even though Georg couldn't quite articulate what this did for him, he knew it was far from bad. So he accepted Holy Communion with relief and quietly sang along to the hymns.

After the service was done, Georg saw through the beautiful stained-glass windows that the sun was beginning to set. Getting the urge to watch it, Georg decided to go back up to the bell tower he had visited on Wednesday, knowing there would be a spectacular view.

So, after walking up all of those steps, he stepped out onto the open terrace of the bell tower, relishing in the view as well as the peaceful sounds of the city below. But then he heard another sound: a small sob from nearby. Turning his head to the stone walls that made up a corner at the end of the walk, he saw a familiar figure sitting there, wiping her eyes and an open book beside her.

It was Maria.

All of the thoughts he'd been having about her in the last few hours went right out of the window when he saw her like that, and his only thought was to comfort her. Georg rushed to her side as she looked up, surprised someone else was up here and then even more surprised and delighted as to who it was. "Georg!" she exclaimed.

"Maria, what's wrong?" asked Georg when he knelt beside her, taking her hands as a comforting gesture.

Maria chuckled through her tears as she wiped them away. "It's nothing, really, I just…I just finished the book, and it's so sad."

Relieved that it was not something more serious, Georg let out a breath and chuckled with her, smiling. "Yes, it _is _very sad."

"The worst part, for me, was when Esmeralda and her mother find each other again, but it only lasts for a moment before Esmeralda is killed and then so is the mother…I suppose you can guess why that would get such a reaction from me…"

Georg nodded, and squeezed her hands again. "Well, that's not your story, Maria," he said firmly, reassuringly.

After a minute, Maria nodded slowly. "I know." She smiled at him. "I'm actually really glad you came, for several reasons. Look what I've found." Maria pointed to a stone in the wall at her eye level. On it was carved the word "Fate."

Georg smiled at the sight. "So the story _is _true, then."

"Yes, and I'm so glad I found it by chance," said Maria. Their eyes met, and suddenly they forgot the significance of the story and realized that perhaps it was that word, fate, that had brought the two of them to meet by chance this evening. Remembering why she had wanted to see him, Maria said softly, "I'm sorry if I seemed distant earlier. Seeing my three friends waiting out there so they could get a good look at you threw me, and I was embarrassed. They mean no harm, it's just…"

"They're being good friends," Georg concluded, smiling softly and accepting her explanation, glad that it was not his fault. Remembering what he had come up here to watch, Georg helped Maria to her feet and led her to the stone railing so they could watch the sunset. They stood side by side, arms resting and folded on the stone railing. Some birds flew over them in a migratory V towards the setting sun.

"So," said Maria softly, not breaking their spell. "I came here because I wanted to finish my book in the structure it centers around. What brought you here?"

"Well, I'd been walking for a long time and ended up here. There was a mass just starting and so I attended…I hadn't been to church in a while, so it was a…strange yet somewhat comforting experience."

"Mm," nodded Maria. A moment passed by, and then she said. "You know, from the time I graduated secondary school up until I was nearly twenty-one, I was a postulant?"

Georg's head turned to look at her profile, shock reading all over his face. This woman a postulant? A potential nun? While he knew her purity and kind heart were true qualities that would be treasured, Maria had never, _ever _struck him as the kind of woman who was meant to be locked away in convent for the rest of her life. The very thought made him want to shudder.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maria saw his expression and smiled slightly. "I told you that, after I was taken from my uncle, I was sent to live in the orphanage of Nonberg Abbey. The nuns were a great comfort and inspiration to me, seeing how much good they did for me and others in unfortunate situations. I wanted to do the same, and to be part of a community, since I had no family anymore – so I thought. So, once I graduated, I joined the convent. But as each year passed, I was denied the chance to take my vows, and though it always disappointed me, it never really surprised me. I was a handful, always late for everything and singing wherever I went, even though it was forbidden. And I was always sneaking out so I could be on my mountain, the one place where I felt free and myself. But by the third rejection…I couldn't deny anymore that God did not want me to serve him…and it hurt…it hurt a lot…so much so that I never set foot in another church until you asked me to meet you here. I was so angry that I fled to France, for I couldn't see anything but loss, bad memories and rejection in Austria."

She finished her story with a shrug, but when she turned her head to Georg, she had a tear on her cheek. Georg had not taken his eyes off her since she had started her story, and it fascinated him. Everything he learned about her, everything about her, was fascinating to him. She was the perfect balance between a loving angel and a damaged human being. Georg had no words for her, had no idea what to say, so all he did was reach out and brush her tear away gently. She closed her eyes and leaned into his gentle caress.

All of the resolutions that Georg had come to on his walk had fled his mind completely. He had to know, had to know if she felt something more for him, beyond a strong friendship, as he did. Her reaction to his caress urged him on, and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She sighed softly at the gesture, and, further encouraged, he raised his other hand so he could hold her face, tilting it up so their eyes met. There was no fear or hesitancy in her gaze; it mirrored his own.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, Georg lowered his head and touched his lips to hers for a first, gentle kiss.

This was Maria's first kiss, and since she did not know what to do, she went by instinct alone, because she felt safe with him. She responded to his gentle kiss, her hands coming up to rest on his waist. This seemed to loosen something in both of them, because from there they kissed again, and again, and again, until their arms were wrapped around each other completely. Their kisses slowly progressed from innocent to passionate, and Maria felt no fear, only surprise at how natural it seemed to her, to do this with this man. There was a fire in her that slowly burned and spread, rejoicing at this new but exciting contact, and she knew that she would not want to experience this with any other man except Georg.

He was in just as blissful a state; his usually over-thinking mind had taken a break, and his heart had taken over. Georg rejoiced at her responses and reactions, finally having the answer to the question he needed answered. He felt himself go dizzy as her arms found their way around his neck, her fingers now combing through his hair. This had to be heaven, here on top of the most famous cathedral in the world.

After a particularly passionate kiss, their lips finally parted and they stood there, embracing and catching their breaths, heads resting on the other's shoulder. By now the sun had set, and it was getting darker. When Georg felt both their heart rates return to normal, he lifted his head and met her gaze. "Come, I'll walk you home," was all he said, in a soft, hoarse voice, and Maria nodded, not finding her voice anywhere for once.

They walked all the way to Maria's building in complete and comfortable silence, Georg's arm around her shoulders and Maria's arm around his waist, her head occasionally resting on his shoulder. When they came to their destination, Maria turned herself to face him and look at him, her cheeks a pretty pink.

Georg, his heart still in command, leaned down and kissed her sweetly, lingeringly, before breathing, "Good night."

Maria blushed even more and breathed, "_Bonne nuit_." They exchanged one last, little kiss before Maria walked up the steps and into her building, pausing to smile at him before disappearing inside.

God was merciful that night, only giving them happy thoughts and memories and an easy road to sleep, dreaming of each other.

* * *

**A/N: **_Sorry this took a while again! Though I know what I want to write, this story is tough to put in the right words!_

_As for the word written in the wall, Victor Hugo found the word carved in a stone in the bell tower (I have no idea where exactly and couldn't find out where, so I used creative license) on a tour one day. This made him think who could have carved it there, and from that he came up with Quasimodo (one of my favorite characters of all time) and was inspired to write _Notre Dame de Paris.


	6. Saturday

**Saturday**

_How long had it been since Georg had been to the seashore? Much too long, he concluded, as he walked slowly towards the huge body of water he had loved since he was four years old. As he walked, Georg reveled in the physical sensations of his environment that he had missed: the feeling of the warm, damp sand beneath his bare feet; the feel of the strong ocean breeze hitting him from the front in the best way; the feeling of the sun on his skin; the fresh, salty smell of the ocean; the sight of the long stretch of sand preceding the huge body of cerulean blue churning with white, ever moving and ever restless._

_ As he came closer to the water's edge, Georg spotted another figure by the water. But before he could become annoyed that someone else was invading his special place, Georg recognized the slim figure walking along the strand, waves covering her feet as they came close to shore. She wore a light blue dress, and her short strawberry-blonde hair was mussed in the sea breeze._

_ His heart lifted, and his pace quickened as he directed his footsteps towards her. She stopped and spotted him when he was very near her; she smiled at him and held out her hands to him. Now he smiled, and ran to her, picking her clean off the ground to spin her around on the sand. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging on for dear life. Finally, Georg set her down and pressed his lips to hers. She responded eagerly, holding his face in her hands, deepening the kiss._

_ Pulling away from her before he couldn't stop, Georg looked into her eyes and found only passion and acceptance and trust, all for him. Wordlessly, Georg bent down and scooped Maria up in his arms. She offered no protest, just wrapped her arms more securely around his neck and kept looking at him with those eyes. Not breaking their gaze, Georg walked them both into the water, letting the waves lap against them as they went deeper, their lips meeting again before becoming completely submerged…_

_ …_Thankfully, Georg did not wake up abruptly from this lovely dream but slowly. It was like watching water slip through your fingers, though you tried to hold it in your cupped hands. But Georg, thankfully, didn't fight too hard to stay sleeping, and woke up with only one little sigh of regret.

He felt so comfortable in his bed that he didn't leave its warmth until he felt he absolutely had to. His thoughts were only of Maria, remembering his dream and remembering their serendipitous encounter last evening. Touching his mouth with his fingertips, Georg remembered the kisses they had shared, for there had been many. He smiled dreamily as he remembered the feel of her soft lips, the sweet taste of her mouth, the sound of her sighs and soft moans, the feel of her in his arms…it had truly been a taste of heaven, something which he never thought he could experience with anybody again.

When he finally got out of bed – his bladder and stomach could only hold out for so long – Georg was surprised to see that it was nearly noon, which shocked the navy man. It seemed that God was still being merciful to Georg today, for as Georg went through his morning routine, dressed and had breakfast, he had only memories of Maria and something else in his mind. That something else was a melody, this melody which haunted him from who knows where. The more he dwelled on it, the more notes and variations came to his mind.

After he'd eaten a brunch in the hotel restaurant, Georg went to the bar he was now very familiar with and sat himself at the beautiful grand piano. There he stayed for the whole afternoon, working out the first music he had ever thought to put to the piano that had come from his own mind, because it was just too strong to be contained.

It was no coincidence that Maria was never far from his thoughts the entire time.

* * *

_Her mountain had not changed at all! The hills were just as green and verdant as they had ever been, blooming with wild spring flowers. The sky was a bright, crystal blue with huge cumulous clouds spread further apart than usual, letting the sun shine down golden a lot more. Maria was running across the grass with joy in her heart. She was in no hurry, and she ran to let out the joyous energy that had filled every cell in her body. She couldn't stop smiling, because she was back in her favorite place in the world._

_ When Maria came to the crest of one hill, she saw something that filled her heart with simultaneous surprise, joy, and worry. The figure that was lying on the top of the hill under a tree was very familiar, and when she finally came to it, she saw it was Georg. Maria knelt down beside him and, after assuring herself that he was only sleeping, Maria let herself smile at the sight of him. _

_ As she reached out her hand to caress his face, all of a sudden, she felt her sides being tickled and she shrieked. Looking down, she saw the guilty culprit looking at her wickedly and laughing wholeheartedly. She laughed too as she tried to stop him and tickle him back, and soon they were both rolling downhill together, clinging to each other. They landed with an "ompf!" Maria on top of Georg, still laughing. When they caught each other's gaze, their laughter died as the atmosphere somehow changed. Slowly, Maria leaned down and touched her lips to his. As their kisses deepened, Maria let her body wrap around his as he turned them both around on the soft grass in the warm sunlight…_

…Maria's eyelids opened very slowly as her wonderful dream slowly faded into the reality of morning. She brought her fingertips to trace her lips, and as her cheeks became even more rosy, Maria smiled softly and giggled a bit. It wasn't only her dream that caused this reaction in her.

It wasn't long until Maria got out of bed, a little past eight o'clock. The whole two hours she spent going through the morning routine, breakfast, and preparing for her friends, Maria hummed, whistled, sang, giggled, skipped, dance, and sighed dreamily. Sometimes she even did two at once. She was still in this state when she heard a knock at her door, which she opened with the merriest, dreamiest "Good morning…"

Adele, Nicole and Therese looked incredulously at Maria as they came in, watching her dance into the kitchen to make tea for everybody. All three of them looked at each other, torn between laughing and bombarding Maria with questions.

They compromised; while Therese and Nicole laughed quietly, Adele rushed into the kitchen after Maria, smiling with curiosity. "_Somebody _woke up on the right side of the bed."

"And why shouldn't I have?" replied Maria in a sing-song voice as she filled her kettle up with water. "It's a gloriously beautiful day outside, we all have the day off of work –"

"You're going to a party tonight," added Therese, smiling indulgently at Maria's happiness.

"A party with your Georg, to be specific," added Adele, who was positively bouncing with glee at the happiness exuding from Maria. That happiness could only be rooted in one thing.

Watching Maria's dreamy smile widen at the mention of "her Georg," Nicole said knowingly, "And you saw him last night, didn't you?"

Maria paused in her work and looked at them all. Having come to the crux of her happiness, she blushed in a new shyness as she thought of the previous evening, and nodded in affirmation to her friends. Immediately, Adele asked her what happened. As Maria prepared the tea, she said, "I called him after you all left, but he wasn't there. So I went out and ran into him completely chance. I swear to God neither of us planned it. We watched the sunset together, we were talking, then we weren't and…then we were kissing."

Maria's cheeks inflamed and she hid her smile as all three of her friends made joyous exclamations: Adele jumped up and down, Nicole smiled happily, and Therese rushed forward to hug her. Once everyone had calmed down, Maria served everyone their tea. Despite the girls pressing her for more questions, Maria didn't give much else away.

"There isn't really much more to say," said Maria, a small smile on her face. "Afterwards he walked me home like a gentleman."

"And what happened after that?" asked Adele. She asked it innocently, but the giggle she had while she asked it gave off the wrong impression, which unfortunately Maria got.

Maria's response was to look at Adele with surprise and some offense, while replying defensively and somewhat coolly, "Nothing. Like I said, he was a gentleman."

Adele instantly realized her mistake and hastily said, "Oh, no, Maria, I didn't mean like _that! _I merely meant did you two come up here and talk some more, or share some tea, or something like that!"

Maria closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Adele, it just sounded like you were implying something much more than kissing…"

"I know, and I never meant to do that," said Adele firmly and honestly.

The two friends hugged and the matter was settled. From there, the four friends finished their tea and resumed work on Maria's new dress. The wearer was surprised to discover that her three friends had worked a long time on the gown the previous night, so all that was left to do was fit Maria for the gown and finish off the hems, hooks and finishings. While Maria felt guilty that she had hardly put any work into this gown, she also felt unbelievably touched that her friends had used their time off to make something so beautiful for her. Any attempts to express gratitude they cut short, insisting that it was a pleasure for them to do this for her.

"Yes, it's much more fun to make something for someone you know and love," said Nicole, as she helped fit the bodice on Maria during the final fitting in the early afternoon. "Don't you agree, girls?"

"Absolutely," said Adele, who was hand-stitching the bottom hem along with Therese.

Maria smiled with a tear in her eye, never more grateful for her friends. "Well, all I can say is that I hope I will be given three opportunities at least to do this for each of you in the future."

"We will definitely take you up on that, no worries," said Adele, smiling up at Maria.

A moment of silence passed, and then Therese, who had remained the most quiet throughout the day, looked up at Maria and asked, somewhat nervously. "Have you two…talked yet?"

The tone of voice her closest friend used left Maria in no doubt what she meant. In response, Maria shook her head and said, "To be honest, that was the last thing on my mind. I can't speak for him but we never talked about anything close to it. Truth be told, I haven't really thought about it at all since seeing my grandmother again…"

Maria's voice drifted and a nervous, troubled expression came into her expressive eyes. Nicole reached from behind and took Maria's hand. "Well, you'll _have _to talk to him tonight, Maria, otherwise…"

Maria nodded almost aggressively, squeezing Nicole's hand. "Yes, yes, you're right. I'll make sure to talk to him after the ball…He said his train leaves at six thirty tomorrow morning, so it will _have _to be tonight…"

"It will all work out, Maria," said Adele, looking up with a reassuring smile.

Maria nodded and smiled back, hoping that what Adele said was true. Nicole, having finished fixing the bodice, came around to face Maria and chose her words very carefully while taking her hands. "Maria, do you know what you want to result from your talk tonight? Where do you want this relationship to go from here?"

Maria took a deep breath in and out, contemplating this question that she would need to have an answer to by tonight. "I know that he cannot stay here, even for another day…his children need him home, especially the one who is sick. If he told me he wanted to stay longer, I would tell him that was foolish and stupid, which it would be…I _would _like to keep in touch with him after he leaves, through letters and telephone calls and such…I'm even thinking of making a trip to Salzburg sometime this summer…There are some ghosts I need to put to rest there…"

As Maria spoke these words, she spoke them as they came to her mind, unwrapping each for the first time. She found herself satisfied with the truth she had spoken, and felt better knowing where she wanted their relationship to go. _But how will he feel about it?_

Therese, who had stood up, could see the question flash in Maria's eyes and squeezed her shoulder, wordlessly conveying reassurance and hope. The three friends stood back and looked Maria over; their faces melted into happy smiles and gasps, for never before had they seen Maria in anything so fine.

"Come and look at yourself in the mirror," said Therese, taking Maria by the hand and leading her into her bedroom, Adele and Nicole following. When Maria stopped in front of the full length mirror and looked at herself, she gave a gasp as her eyes widened. "Oh, girls…this is so beautiful! I've never seen or worn anything so beautiful! Thank you, thank you so much!"

Fresh tears were streaming down her face, tears of pure happiness and gratitude, as she reached for her three friends to hug them close to her.

* * *

Some time later, after the dress had been finished and laid out on the bed, Maria and Therese took a little walk together. Adele and Nicole needed to get home, and Therese wanted to ask Maria a question of her own. She felt that Maria would feel more safe answering it if the both of them were away from the giggling and teasing of the well-meaning of Adele and Nicole.

"Maria," she began, choosing her words carefully. "I'm glad you know where you want your relationship with Georg to go. But there's something else you need to be able to define before you two part: your feelings for him."

Maria sighed, stopped, and leaned against a lamppost. She twiddled her thumbs and looked at them as she spoke. "You're right, I should…I don't think we can just be good friends, after what happened yesterday evening…at least, _I _couldn't…" She was speaking the truth; Maria had exchanged her first kisses with Georg, and she had never before experienced anything so wonderful that felt so right. No, she could not remain only good friends with him; they'd crossed that line the moment their lips had first met.

Therese saw Maria's reflections play across her face, but thought it best to wait for Maria to finish. So she gently rubbed Maria's arm to bring her back to reality so she could.

Maria sighed again and rubbed her forehead. "One of the last things my _grandmére _told me before Georg and I left was, 'Don't be afraid, and listen to your heart.' I've been trying to do that, but it's not as simple as it sounds." She gave Therese a shrug, though her face was not in nearly as casual an expression; she only shrugged to show she had nothing more to say on the subject.

Therese nodded and smiled at Maria. Taking her hand, she walked with Maria back to her home. "Well, just take this afternoon to try, before you go to the party, all right? Start a new book, that's always fun for you. And who knows? You may find something to help you."

Maria liked this suggestion, especially the part about starting a new book. It was true, now that she had finished _Notre Dame de Paris_, she needed to find a new book to read. Maria hugged Therese in gratitude and said, "I don't know how late I'll be in coming home, so I'll talk to you all tomorrow morning. You'll all come, won't you?"

Therese smiled and nodded. "Of course, Maria, we'll all be there for you."

"Thank you."

* * *

The afternoon passed had passed rather quickly for Georg, engrossed in the piece of music he had been transferring from his head to the grand piano. Before he knew it, the clock in the intimate bar chimed six times, which finally brought Georg back to reality. He had to get dressed and get to the party on the river. Though Georg was never one for parties, two thoughts made him excited to go: the prospect of being with both Claude and Jacque, and, more importantly, being with Maria.

Thinking of her as he showered and got dressed, Georg realized that this was their last night together, as far as they knew now. The thought saddened him greatly, and he realized that, at some point tonight, he and Maria would need to have a talk. He knew, in good conscience, he could not leave Paris without resolving things between them.

As he rode in a cab to his destination, for the first time Georg realized the consequences of yesterday evening: they couldn't part as mere good friends, which would have been the least painful option. He had made so many fine, honorable resolutions the other day, but running into her so unexpectedly had thrown all of that out the window. But, oh, it had been worth it…

_What the hell am I going to do? _

The feeling of the cab stopping by the river brought Georg away from his thoughts. He paid the driver and got out of the cab, smoothing down the blazer of his tuxedo and focusing on a new thought: the party. He would have a good time at this party with Maria and his friends. Whatever happened tonight, especially where he and Maria were concerned, he would make the most of it.

Georg didn't have to look long for his destination on the river. Claude's boat was just as beautiful as he had described to Georg, with lights hanging from it and everything. Already people were aboard, for he could hear merry music and chatter from the vessel. He wondered if Maria was already there; he wished he could have escorted her to the party, but he would see her soon enough.

_What if what happened last evening scared her and she will not come? _This thought terrified him as he walked along the docks. Immediately, he tried to quench his fears: _No, Maria would not do that. After all that had happened between them, she would never do something like that. _And he believed it.

Feeling better, Georg walked across the gangplank and onto the open-decked boat. Immediately, Claude was there to greet him with a hearty handshake. "Georg! So glad you could make it!"

"Glad to be here, Claude," said Georg, smiling. "Where are Jacque and his wife?"

Claude's face brightened up considerably, even mischievously. "Oh, they're just over here with a little surprise guest that I brought."

"Oh, surprise guest?" said Georg, playing along with his friend as he allowed himself to be led across the boat. "Which of your many lady friends will it be? I seem to remember you having an inkling towards the dark beauties back in the day, so I imagine your mystery guest to be a tall, striking gypsy of ravishing beauty who can't see to get enough of –"

"My dear Georg, I've _never _been more flattered!"

Georg stopped dead in his tracks, shocked, when he heard that voice. Claude did too, unable to stop laughing in delight. Georg's eyes widened and smiled. "Max, oh my God!" he exclaimed, stepping forward to embrace his friend. It had been a few months since they had seen each other, and his appearance here was completely unexpected. Georg turned to Claude after the embrace broke. "This was _your _doing?"

"I phoned him after I learned his whereabouts from you. Asked if he wanted to make a trip over here so we all could have a proper and very long overdue reunion."

"And how could I resist the open bar and free hor'deuvres?" asked Max cheekily.

Georg laughed, really laughed in happiness, as he greeted Jacque, who had been standing by Max and watching the scene unfold with just as happy a smile.

The reunion had been very long overdue, but for the four old friends, the energy and fellowship they had formed twenty years ago had not dissipated with either time or age.

* * *

Maria couldn't deny that she felt very nervous when she stepped out of the taxi after it stopped by the river and she had paid the driver. Looking at the absolutely beautiful boat before her that was her destination, she felt another sweep of nervousness that she hoped would not turn to nausea once she stepped on board and the boat would begin moving. _Calm down and breathe, you'll be with a trained and experienced sea captain…Georg…_

Thinking of him, Maria felt a contrast between excitement and more nervousness. She'd spent the remainder of the afternoon rifling through her big volume of Shakespeare and getting ready for the ball. She felt grateful for the matching shawl the girls had made for her, in case it became too chilly or she became too shy, with her bare shoulders exposed by this gown. Her mind felt a bit of an exhausted mess, so she decided to leave it alone for a while, determined to enjoy this party, her time with Georg.

So, setting her chin, Maria walked towards the boat, down the dock, and paused briefly at the gangplank. Swallowing her nervousness yet again, Maria carefully stepped onto it and crossed it quickly until she was standing on the boat. Eager to find Georg, Maria scanned the crowd. The musicians had taken a break, and the other guests were all chattering merrily amongst themselves; they didn't hear or notice her arrival. Not eager to make her appearance some kind of event (since she only knew two people here), Maria remained silent and scanned the crowd.

Then, she heard a sound that drew her, both familiar and unfamiliar. She looked towards the source and thankfully the crowd parted a bit so she could see it. What it was took her breath away.

It was Georg, looking so handsome in that crisp black tuxedo, white shirt and light blue bowtie. He was standing with three other men around his age. One, Jacque, she recognized; the blond must be Claude, and the third she had no idea. But she only took them into account in a mere millisecond before her eyes were on Georg again. He was talking with the three men with a radiant smile on his face, and the beautiful sound she had heard was his laughter, his unrestrained laughter that she had never heard before. Never before had she seen him so relaxed, so content, so carefree, so unburdened…so happy.

Seeing him like that put all of the pieces Maria had tried so hard to put together that afternoon together in one swift moment. She listened to her heart, and for the first time understood it fully, though this was all so new to her.

In that moment, Maria knew that she had fallen in love with Georg. And right now, all she felt about that was…indescribable, but certainly not negative.

And in the next moment, Georg's gaze drifted and he saw her. His smile gave way to a look of pure awe and adoration. She offered a hesitant smile, and he returned a more sure one which made hers more sure. Her heart melted, chasing away any shred of doubt in her heart.

They slowly moved towards each other, excusing themselves as they moved past people until they stood before the other. Maria found that her voice had disappeared as she saw how strong his gaze was. Without breaking it, Georg took her hands and raised them to his lips; he kissed both her knuckles and her palms, making Maria tingle all over

"Georg, don't keep the young lady all to yourself! Be a gentleman and introduce her!"

The unfamiliar voice to Maria caused Georg to withdraw and put a little distance between them, though he still held her hands. Now _he _was the one to blush and look at her with an embarrassed expression. "I am so sorry for anything that is about to occur," said Georg in a soft voice only she could hear.

Maria recognized her own words from yesterday, when they had been in the vice versa situation, and chuckled before she nodded. She took the arm he offered her and let him lead her to the side of the boat, where three men who looked Georg's age were standing and talking, sometimes laughing. She recognized Jacque amongst them, and he immediately stepped forward to greet her. "Maria, it is good to see you again."

After he kissed her cheek, Maria said, "Yes, it's good to see you again, too. Where is your wife? I've yet to meet her."

A look of regret came across Jacque's face. "I'm sorry, Maria, she couldn't come. Sometimes she gets these migraine headaches and I thought it best she sleep it off and not push herself. But you'll meet her tomorrow when we return to Rouen."

"All right, I'm so sorry about that," said Maria sincerely. Therese sometimes got similar headaches, and just by looking at her Maria could tell they were quite painful.

Maria heard a theatrical clearing of the throat, which made her turn to the other two men. Georg hastily, and with a little nervousness, introduced his friends Claude and Max. Maria had heard about the both of them from Georg, and they did not fail to live up to her expectations.

"Ah, this must be the famous Maria!" exclaimed Claude before kissing her hand theatrically, his blond hair streaked with silver. "Georg just can't stop gushing about you."

"I wouldn't use _that _word," said Georg with embarrassment, shooting daggers at Claude.

Max then came forward and kissed both of her cheeks. He then backed away, still holding her by the shoulders as if to examine her. "I must say, I've been extremely curious to see this woman who has done what only a miracle worker could do, and I also must say, you're even more beautiful that Georg said you were."

"Thank you," said Maria, smiling and blushing, but her expression froze when she saw Georg. He looked like he wanted to either beat up the two of them or throw himself into the river. She then looked at Jacque, who was hiding his chuckles behind his hand but was looking at Georg in sympathy. She felt sympathy for Georg, too, remembering yesterday when she had been in a very similar position.

Just then, they were all saved by the bell, literally. A bell rang three times, and Maria felt a rumble beneath them that could only be the motor starting. Reflexively, Maria reached out and grabbed the railings tightly, her nerves catching up to her.

"Maria, what is it?" asked Georg, stepping up beside her and covering her hand (hidden from his friends).

Maria looked around at the four friends. "I would embarrass myself in front of four navy men if I told you."

"We wouldn't laugh, right fellas?" asked Jacque, giving her as reassuring a look as Georg was giving her.

Maria gave a sigh of defeat and said in a quiet voice, "All right…I've never been on a boat before."

None of the four men looked like they wanted to laugh, but they did look surprised. "Really? How is that possible, mademoiselle?" asked Claude, not unkindly but surprised.

It still embarrassed Maria a bit. "I was born and raised in Austria, in the mountains. The biggest body of water I ever saw there was smaller than this boat, not counting the streams that weren't nearly as big as this river."

She met Georg's eyes, and he was looking at her with less surprise but with more kindness and excitement. He squeezed her hand as he said, "Well, gentlemen, it seems we have a mission: to acquaint this beautiful lady with a boat to make her feel more at ease."

"And get to know her more so she will feel more at ease with all of us," said Jacque, looking at her with just as much kindness.

"_And _to make sure she is worthy of our Georg," whispered Max into Georg's ear, which caused Georg to "accidently" and "gently" step on Max's toes.

* * *

Georg had never before had such a good time at a party. It was everything he thought a party should be: beautiful setting, great music and food, surrounded by good friends, and a special someone by his side.

Being with his old friends again was just what Georg needed, and just what he had hoped to find when he had come to Paris in the first place: to not feel as though he had a great weight on his back and his heart. He felt so carefree and happy, such as he hadn't felt in years.

And Maria…Maria was indescribable in the best possible way. Georg thought that he had lost his breath for good when he spotted her across the crowded boat. How lovely, so purely lovely, she looked tonight, in that dress that matched her beautiful eyes. He'd always thought she was beautiful, but tonight.

It didn't take long for her initial shyness to disappear, and soon she felt perfectly at ease with his friends, which relieved him. If ever Claude or Max came close to being a little too teasing, either he or Jacque would ever so subtly pull them back. It was a great balancing act, and one of the reasons why the four of them had such great comradery and chemistry together. If the five of them were not all talking together, one of the men would be dancing with Maria – half the time it was Jacque, Claude or Max, the other half of the time it would be Georg. Just like when they had danced on Tuesday, Georg relished in being so close to her, and because of all that happened in between Tuesday and today, he could hold her closer to him. And his friends had the good sense not to tease him or Maria about that.

After one dance, where they ended up pretty close to the musicians, he heard someone exclaim, "Maria!" Both of them looked towards the stage, where the shout had come from. A man who looked to be her age got up from his stool, set his guitar down, and approached them, crouching at the edge of the stage and smiling at Maria.

"Remy!" said Maria, lighting up as she recognized him. "I didn't know you were playing here tonight."

"I didn't know you would _be _here tonight! What are you doing here?" returned Remy.

"I'm here with my…this is Georg Von Trapp," said Maria, indicating Georg, who was standing by her side and who was eyeing Remy closely. He _supposed_ he was good-looking, for a young man anyways. Blond hair, dark eyes…oh, who was he kidding, the man was a damned Apollo. His mood instantly soured as he watched the two of them talking, for they were obviously familiar with each other.

Remy met the suspicious and jealous stare with a cheerful one. He held out his hand to shake. "A pleasure to meet you, sir."

Georg shook his hand but remained stiff as a board. "Likewise," he said, but his tone reflected the opposite.

At this, Remy just chuckled and murmured to Maria, "Nice job, Maria, he's _very _handsome."

Maria made a face at him as she blushed. "You're worse than Adele."

"Well, now that you're here, there is no way you're getting out of doing a song with us," said Remy with a smile.

Maria's blush immediately faded and her eyes went wide. "No, Remy, not here, not now!"

"No excuses," said Remy firmly. "Your voice is the loveliest voice I've ever heard, and you would give the people here a real treat if you sang a song."

Maria looked at Georg, afraid of how he might react but looking for support. His sour jealousness had started to ebb away when he had heard Remy's teasing remark about him; clearly this Remy was not interested in Maria romantically. And this topic of Maria singing made him very curious; he'd never heard Maria sing before, and if a professional musician was giving her such compliments, she _must _be good.

Wanting to hear her sing, Georg smiled gently at her, and said, "If it would make the people happy…" while his eyes begged her to sing.

Maria seemed to read the subtext, for her reaction was to swallow and then slowly nod.

Remy clapped his hands in delight. "Excellent! Come up, Maria, and we'll work it out."

Maria nodded at Remy and then gave a small, terrified smile to Georg. He, in turn, kissed her cheek and whispered, "Good luck."

"Thanks," squeaked Maria before she walked up to the stage to meet her friend. Sighing, Georg walked back to his friends.

* * *

After Remy and Maria had worked out the song with the rest of the band – thankfully, it was a familiar song to most of them, which relieved and fascinated Maria – he took her aside to talk to her. "He really _is _very handsome, and from your homeland, too." He started to chuckle. "The look on his face when I shook his hand…he must be hopelessly in love to be so protective of you."

Maria blushed at his words. "In love? I wouldn't take it as far as that…" she spoke in a very quiet tone and looked at the floor, trying to hide the joy and hope Remy's words had given her.

Remy saw the expression on Maria's face when he peered down, and he knew without a doubt that Maria was in love with this man. But he knew if he told her that, she would shut further inside herself and perhaps not sing. So he just took her shoulders gently, which caused her to look up at him, and said with a small, reassuring smile, "Sing it for him."

Maria's blush remained, but she returned the small smile. "That's what I plan to do."

* * *

Everyone applauded the last song that the musicians played before Remy got up from his stool and spoke into the microphone. Maria stood behind him, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves, Georg suspected. He told his three friends to hush immediately, and all four of them looked at the stage with avid curiosity.

"_Madames et Monsieurs," _he said with a smile. "I'm happy to say that tonight I can introduce something very special. A good friend of mine has agreed to sing a song tonight, and I can assure you her voice is as radiant as her beauty and her heart. Please give a warm welcome to calm the nerves of this Austrian _belle, _Maria."

Remy motioned for her to step up to the microphone with a reassuring smile, and the crowd applauded for her as she did, especially the four friends and most especially Georg. Maria smiled tremulously, which Georg thought adorable, and waited nearly on his toes with anticipation.

"_Merci," _began Maria, her voice soft but gaining more strength the longer she spoke. "This is a song that I learned from my grandmother and my mother, and I find the lyrics so beautiful because it can reflect any kind of love. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I love singing it."

Maria turned her head and nodded for the band to begin. The pianist played the simple introduction, like a brook laughing serenely, and the rest of the band gently joined in as Maria began to sing, her eyes closed at first:

_I'll be your candle on the water._

_My love for you will always burn._

_I know you're lost and drifting,_

_But the clouds are lifting._

_Don't give up: you have somewhere to turn._

Now in the groove of the song, Maria opened her eyes and looked out over the crowd as she went into the next verse. Georg nearly lost his breath; he'd never heard a voice so lovely before, purer than a flute and, richer than a clarinet, and clearer than a bell

_I'll be your candle on the water_

'_Till ev'ry wave is warm and bright._

_My soul is there beside you;_

_Let this candle guide you._

_Soon you'll see a golden stream of light._

Her eyes found Georg in the crowd, and once her eyes met his, she couldn't look away, and neither could he. Both were spellbound.

_A cold and friendless tide has found you._

_Don't let the stormy darkness pull you down._

_I'll paint a ray of hope around you,_

_Circling in the air, lighted by a prayer…_

Now Maria's voice was as strong as it was pure; compassion dripped from every note, and no one could ignore such a golden sound.

_I'll be your candle on the water._

_This flame inside of me will grow._

_Keep holding on: you'll make it._

_Here's my hand, so take it._

_Look for me reaching out to show,_

_As sure as rivers flow…_

Maria, who was holding out her hand now to the crowd (seemingly) but it was really to Georg, whom she could not look away from. Her eyes glistened and sparkled with something, something that was too beautiful to describe in words. But it told him that she meant every word to him that she sang.

_I'll never let you go._

_I'll never let you go._

_I'll never let…you go…_

Maria slowly let her hand fall to her side as her voice faded away into the orchestra as they finished the gentle lullaby. Before the orchestra had even finished, as Georg still kept eye contact with Maria, he knew. Beyond any reasonable doubt, he now knew.

He had fallen hopelessly in love with Maria.

The sound of great applause broke the spell between the two. Maria seemed to realize she had just performed in front of an audience, and lowered her head in a modest bow, covering her flaming cheeks. Georg saw Remy give her a gentle embrace and subtly whisper to her, pointing behind the stage. Maria squeezed his hands in gratitude and, after another shy bow (but it was more like a nod) to the audience, she disappeared behind the orchestra.

Now that he could not see her anymore, after his revelation, Georg needed to see her again. Since the orchestra was set up in front of the bow, he assumed that Remy had directed her there so she could have a few minutes to herself. But Georg's urge to see her was too powerful to be ignored. So he mutter an "excuse me" to his friends, and made his way through the crowd towards the stage. All of them were speaking of how lovely this young lady was, and what a glorious voice she had.

Remy saw him approaching and motioned for him to come. Georg did, and Remy whispered to him, "She's behind the stage, at the bow. A bit overwhelmed, but I'm sure she'd want to see you."

The young musician gave him a reassuring smile, and Georg offered his hand in a peace-giving gesture of apology and gratitude. Remy shook it gladly, and pointed to a small pathway Georg could take around the stage.

Once Georg came to the other side of the stage, he could see the bow and Maria standing at the tip of it. She was taking deep breaths, relishing in the breeze that went past her, gently gripping the boat railing. The breeze made ripples in the skirt of her gown, and slightly ruffled her short, golden locks. Georg couldn't move or speak when he caught sight of her again, after his revelation. He suddenly didn't want to disturb her, was content enough just to look at her.

But then she just seemed to sense his presence behind her, and she turned her head. Maria's cheeks flushed as she tried to give him a smile before quickly looking away again. Her blue eyes had been shining a bit too brightly. This made Georg's urge to just stay put disappear, and slowly he approached the woman he loved.

Instead of going to her side, Georg stopped right behind her. Slowly, so as not to frighten Maria, he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. In response, she gave a soft sigh and let her body relax back against his, and her arms and hands came up to cover his own. Georg sighed too, relishing in the feelings of both the evening breeze off the river and the feelings of her being so close. Her scent intoxicated him, it was so natural: soap, a shampoo that smelled of fresh wildflowers, and her skin…her neck tilted slightly to one side as it rested on his shoulder, and her eyes were almost closed. The sight of her smooth, flawless neck was irresistible, so Georg bent his head down and gently kissed its nape. Maria's reaction was to gasp and stiffen for just a moment before relaxing again, as if realizing this foreign, intimate touch would not hurt her after all. The scent and taste of her skin overwhelmed Georg, and he knew he was becoming addicted. He let his lips move gently, slowly, up her neck, along her jaw, along her cheek, until he cupped the opposite cheek so he could look into her eyes. They were still very bright, and Georg didn't know if he was imagining what he saw there or not, because what he saw mirrored what he knew was in his own gaze. Still caressing her cheek, their lips gravitated together and they kissed. Georg savored it, taking it slowly but fully, telling her in every action his feelings, ever since he had first approached her. She seemed to be doing the same, sharing and reciprocating the deep, passionate kiss, resting against his body with complete trust and acceptance.

"Maria!" The sound of Remy calling her name caused the both of them to immediately break all contact with each other, faces flushed and breathing hard. They stood a foot apart from each other when Remy came into view, but he could see very well what he interrupted – and wisely did not say a word. "Some gentlemen are asking for the both of you."

Maria nodded in acknowledgement, and Remy disappeared back onto the stage with a conspiratorial and knowing smile. Once he was gone, Maria and Georg looked at each other again and wordlessly linked arms. Both were silent about what had just happened, but both knew it was far from each other's minds.

* * *

Maria felt like she had enough nervous energy to run across all of Paris faster than a speeding train. Her legs were bouncing up and down rapidly as she sat in the back of the taxi as it took her to the Ritz Hotel. The party had wound down soon after she sang. She and Georg had bid fond farewells to Claude, Jacque and Max, whom they would see at the train station tomorrow morning, as well as Maria's three friends. Maria had become fond of all three men for different reasons, much like her three friends, and she was glad to have met them.

She and Georg had left before them, and he'd called separate taxis for the both of them. He'd asked that she give him about an hour to pack up his things and then come to him, so they could "have a proper talk." _Good choice of words, _thought Maria, as the taxi got closer and closer to the destination. She was glad that it had been Georg to bring this subject up, because it meant that he was thinking about their relationship, too, and where it would go.

Once she'd gotten back to her apartment, she'd packed an overnight bag that she would take to Rouen tomorrow. She'd also changed out of her beautiful gown and into a more comfortable dress, coat and set of shoes. Before leaving the apartment she'd grabbed her purse and, in a burst of inspiration, her mother's doll.

When the cab stopped outside the hotel, Maria felt her hands trembling, but she managed to pay the driver and get out without incident. The inside of the lobby was so grand that Maria gasped. Remembering her instructions, Maria went to the front desk clerk and said, "Hello, I'm Maria Rainer here to see Captain Von Trapp?"

The clerk immediately smiled and said, "Ah, yes, the Captain told me he was expecting you. Take the elevator up to the twelfth floor, room number 1207. I'll ring him to let him know you're coming."

"_Merci," _said Maria, and made her way to the elevator and then to the room. Once she was facing the door, Maria felt herself shaking again, wondering what was going to happen after their conversation tonight. God knows she didn't want to lose him, but she knew that no easy solution would be an option for their situation. And though she was a little apprehensive – without the little – she knew it would be better to know a resolution than to stay in limbo.

So, steeling herself, Maria knocked on the door, which almost immediately opened. Georg stood before her, his blazer and tie discarded, and the top few buttons of his shirt undone. He smiled at the sight of her, but she could see he was a bit…restless was the best word she could find. "Come in, come in, please," he said, stepping aside and motioning for her to come inside, which she did.

His room was small but still grand, in terms of the decorations and furniture. An open suitcase laid open on his bed, and the doors of the empty wardrobe were open. As she looked around, Georg went to the small minibar. "Have a seat, um…would you like anything to drink?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine," said Maria, sitting down in a comfortable chair, watching Georg pace from one end of the room to the other. Yes, he certainly was restless; it reassured her somewhat to know that he felt as jumpy as she did, that both of them were scared of what may come of this meeting.

Eventually, Georg stopped his pacing and took a good look at her and what she was holding. "What's that?" he inquired curiously, pointing to Maria's lap.

Maria nearly gasped as she realized what she was holding in her arms. She looked down at the doll and then back up at Georg. "Oh, I thought…well, you said your little girl, Marta, was sick. I found my mother's doll in my grandmother's cottage, and it won't be put to any use just lying there or in my apartment. I'm sure she already has a doll or something like that, but…I wanted to do something to help." With that, Maria held out the doll for Georg to take.

Georg looked stunned by the gesture, and slowly stepped forward. He lifted the doll from Maria's hands, examining it with something like tender awe. "It looks like her…" muttered Georg to himself, as he put it in his suitcase, which meant he was accepting the offer. Georg stood very still for a minute, and then went very quickly to Maria. He knelt down before her, as she sat in the chair, and took both of her hands tightly in his.

"Come with me," he said.

At first, Maria didn't really understand. She narrowed her eyes at Georg in confusion, thinking where he could possibly want to take her at this hour. Then, she saw how serious his eyes were, and she knew what he meant. She was shocked. "What?" she whispered.

His grip on her hands tightened a little bit, and his gaze intensified to nearly pleading. "Come back to Austria with me. I know you must miss our homeland, and there are ghosts there you want to vanquish. You can easily find work in one of the shops in Salzburg, if you like. There is more than enough room for you in my home, and the gesture with the doll tells me that my children would definitely take a liking to you."

Maria was still in shock, and it was very difficult to speak. But she finally managed to ask, "You…you're really asking me to come with you?"

"Yes," said Georg, looking at her with near desperation. "I don't want to say _auf weiderssein_ you, Maria; just a week with you is not enough."

Maria was beginning to feel overwhelmed now. Go with Georg…she did not just want one week with him either, and she rejoiced in the fact that he felt the same way about her, but…what he was asking was…

"Georg…I can't. You can't ask me to do that."

It hurt to say the words to him, and watch his hopes fall and hurt rise in his eyes, but Maria knew was telling the truth: she couldn't, there was no way that she could. Georg lowered his head and closed his eyes, as if he were trying to collect himself or keep something inside. Maria's heart twisted as she watched this, and longed to comfort him. She lifted a hand from his hold and caressed his hair. "Georg…"

Her words and her touch seemed to ignite something in Georg. He raised his head and looked at Maria, and then stood up, pulling her to her feet by the hand he still held. He took that hand and raised to his lips, sensually kissing the tip of each finger, her palm, and her wrist. Maria felt her heartbeat race as he did this, and she lost her breath when he kissed her lips, quickly going deeper. Her mind seemed to go to sleep then. His lips moved from her lips across her cheek, to her ear. By now, Maria was clutching his shirt, her heart skyrocketing and her whole body warming up.

"Then stay with me tonight," he whispered into her ear. "Make the most of the time we have left together." Then he began to kiss behind her ear, moving down to her neck ever so slowly.

At his words, Maria's mind woke up, albeit slowly because of his current ministrations. But when she felt his hands moving up from her waist, Maria's hands that were once gripping his shirt pushed him roughly away when her mind fully woke up. "No!" she exclaimed desperately, and he jumped five feet back from her by the force of her push. For a few long minutes, he looked at her in shock, and Maria felt her hands burn from shoving him. She didn't mean to do it so hard, but…she felt if she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to say no.

Eventually, his expression melted from shock and hurt to humiliated and hurt, and he walked quickly to the window. All she could say was a broken, "I'm sorry," as she watched his back. _Now I've ruined everything, _she thought. _But what else can I do? I can't go back with him…and it wouldn't be right to give myself to him now, would it?_

"Perhaps you should leave now, Maria," she heard Georg say softly. "We'll talk in the morning."

"In the morning?" asked Maria. "But your train _leaves _in the morning, we'll have no time, then."

"Well, I don't think we need too much," said Georg, almost bitterly. "You've made it clear where you want this relationship to go."

"Oh, I have, have I?" Maria's voice had been raised in pitch, because now she was angry. She took a step towards Georg, her eyes blazing. "Look at me!" she commanded, using a tone of voice she didn't think she had.

He obeyed her, looking still hurt but surprised at her tone of voice. Maria swallowed any lumps of fear and spoke, gaining more courage and strength which was fueled by her anger and her heart, which rarely work together but, in rare cases like this, do.

"How can you ask me to abandon my whole life here? My home, my job, my best friends, and especially my grandmother. I've only just found her again, how can you ask me to leave her? I know I left Austria by running away, and I _will _return someday, but there's no way I can do that now, like this. And how can you possibly build a good relationship with your children again if I come back with you, stay in your house, am forced into their lives. They would resent me right away, no matter what they are like or I am like.

"As for being with you tonight…" Tears came to her eyes as she spoke of this, because she knew that a part of her really wanted to be with him in this way, but it wasn't enough. "No matter how we feel about each other, the circumstances are black and white: we've only known each other for a week, and you leave tomorrow. You're not the one who could become pregnant because of this! You're not the one who has never even _kissed_ a man before, let alone _been_ with one in that way, and have to watch him leave tomorrow! _You're _not the one who will hurt and bleed from the experience!"

By now, tears were flowing down her face, and she couldn't stop until she'd finished. "Don't make me choose between one or the other in order not to lose you, because, believe it or not, I don't want to lose you. It's selfish of you and it isn't fair to me! I'm sorry there is no easy path to take from here, but the ones you've pointed out to me are so hard they're impossible to walk. Please, Georg…"

* * *

Never once since Agathe had died had Georg thought, hoped for, or even thought it was possible to fall in love again. But Maria had proven a lot of things Georg had thought to be impossible possible in the span of just one week. But the realization of being in love with her had brought along a great fear, which he realized after he they had separated after the party. Yes, he had fallen in love again, but what was going to happen to them now? He had to leave the country in the morning, not knowing when they would meet again, if they would even see each other again. Hell, he didn't even know if she returned his love!

No, he couldn't let her go; he couldn't lose the woman he loved again.

It had been this fear and desperation that had caused him to ask her to come back to Salzburg with him. Her gesture with the doll had provided the final proof that he needed her in his life beyond this one week in Paris. And when she'd said no, it hurt, because he was still in that state of desperation, which made him try and keep her with him for at least one night, because perhaps that could change her mind. He knew that she, at least, returned the attraction he had for her, and it was all he had to go on. But she'd pushed him away – no, shoved would be more accurate – and because he was letting his fear and desperation guide him, he felt hurt and wronged.

But then, after she'd demanded for him to look at her, what she said to him made him look at himself in the light of the truth. She called him selfish and unfair, and she was right; that's what he was being. When she had finished with that tiny plea, Georg saw the tears on her face and felt disgusted with himself. He'd then turned back around to the window and hit the wall, trying to let some of that out.

Then he said to himself, "I have to fall in love when all I wanted was a distraction." He stood there, his forearm and forehead leaning against the wall in self-loathing as he let himself calm down and regain his logical thinking. When he felt more in control of himself, determined that he would make this right, Georg turned back around to look at Maria.

But he didn't. She was gone, and the door to his room was wide open. Now Georg felt an ice-cold fear sweep over his body as he realized, _My God, she heard what I said!_

"No!" he breathed, and ran out of his room and to the closed elevators. He repeatedly pressed the down button until one of them finally opened, and the elevator could not move fast enough to save his life. Once out, Georg could see her nowhere in the lobby. He ran for the front doors and stepped out into the dark street.

She was nowhere in sight. "Maria!" he called loudly, desperately. Nothing. She had disappeared, and he had only himself to blame.

* * *

**A/N: **_The last chapter will be up before the end of the month. Please give all of the reviews you can!_

_The song I used is "Candle on the Water" from the movie _Pete's Dragon, _both the English and French versions (remember the lullaby from the Thursday chapter?)._


	7. Sunday

**A/N: **_Now, I'm writing in a song and musical group that are about thirty years too early, but if I can use my favorite musical in 'Arrangement,' I can use my favorite music artists in this one. It's pretty obvious who they are. And the reason I chose the particular song I chose? Look up the song along with "Maria & the Captain." It's quite amazing, I think, how well the song works._

* * *

**Sunday**

At midnight, four young best mates and bandmates arrived back at the Ritz Hotel after a very successful concert in a nearby, high-end night club. They were laughing and joking together, giddy with their recent success as only young men can be. Three carried guitar cases and one carried drumsticks, all wearing matching dark suits and Italian boots; even their haircuts were similar.

As they came into the lobby, still laughing and joking, the sound of a cry caused all of them to stop and look in front of them. A young woman had just collapsed running out of the elevators, probably tripped from going so fast. Immediately, all four of them rushed to her to help her up. "Oh, miss, are you all right?" asked Paul, taking her arm to help her up.

"Yes, you look like you've seen a demon," said George, who supported her other arm. "Can we call you a cab or call someone?"

Both of them had forgotten they were in France for a moment and spoke in their native English. But before they could correct themselves, the young woman – whom they couldn't really call young, because she looked their age – replied, "No, thank you, I just need to get out of here, excuse me," in English with a type of German accent. Tears were streaming down her flushed face, and she was shaking all over. And before any of the four of them could stop her, she had run out of the hotel at lightning speed and disappeared.

Shocked, and no longer in a mood for joking after seeing such a frightened, heartbroken creature, the four men headed for their original destination: the small, intimate bar that housed a beautiful grand piano.

"Oh, good, it's free!" said Paul when they came into the empty space, heading straight for the piano to stake his claim. "I thought it might not be, usually that dark-haired man is always at it, like today."

"Well, let's take advantage of our turn now," said John, pulling up a chair so he could sit beside the piano. As he got his guitar out of his case, he said, "I just hope that poor thing's all right. She reminded me of a frightened bird who's been shot at."

"Tell me about it," said Ringo, standing beside the grand piano and leaning his forearms against it. "I wish she'd have let us call her a taxi or gotten her a drink or something."

"Yes, in her state, she shouldn't be running through the streets at night," said John reflectively.

"I think someone broke her heart," said Georg, pulling up another chair after taking out his own guitar. "She was crying, and she's quite pretty, even in her state."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, lads," said Paul, who was opening up the grand instrument. "She didn't stay long enough for any of us to say another word, and we just have to pray…"

As the two men tuned their guitars and Paul warmed up with some scales, the man who had always been at the piano in the past week came storming in. The four men looked up at him as he entered. He looked the perfect image of both a broken man and a storm cloud, even more of the latter when he saw that the piano was taken.

"Sorry, mate," said Paul in English – again, forgetting this was France, conveniently because he barely spoke the language – "but you weren't here and we wanted to work on a new song."

The man let out a very frustrated sigh and growled, "Fine," in English. He went to the bar and sat down on a stool. He leaned forward and looked around for a bartender.

"Uh, the bar closes at midnight, mate," said John, who was watching him.

The man slammed his fists down on the bar, cursing quite colorfully to himself in his native tongue, which was German.

All four English men cringed a bit; German is quite ugly to English-speaking ears when spoken so harshly. "You German, mate?" asked Ringo, a little suspiciously; the political turmoil did not paint the Germans in a good light back in their home country.

_"Austrian," _the man practically shouted, looking at the four of them fiercely. "I want nothing to do with Germany and that political party that's taken control their thanks to that monster."

"Relax, mate!" said John, leaning back and holding up his hands. "We're from Liverpool, and we can only distinguish _English _dialects, let alone know only three words of German between the four of us."

The man seemed to relax a little and had the grace to look a little abashed. "I'm sorry, you've met me at the worst possible time…I've just lost everything."

"It's all right, mate," said George, who could hear in the man's tone that he was, indeed, heartbroken. "And we'll be done with the instrument as soon as we're done working out this song, right lads?"

The rest of them all nodded and reassured the man. After all, he'd been friendly to them in the past and was a fantastic piano player. The Austrian man tried to smile but was indeed grateful. "All right, then, I'll wait. Don't hurry on account of me."

But just before Paul began his song, he remembered the young woman who had tripped in the lobby from running. She'd had the exact same accent as this Austrian man, which meant _she _was Austrian, too. Two Austrian people in Paris who seemed heartbroken…nope, no coincidence.

"Uh, mate…when you say you've just lost everything, do you mean a woman?"

The Austrian man began to tap her fingers like a metronome on the bar counter. His silence was answer enough.

"Would she happen to be around my age, have short golden hair, pretty blue eyes, and have the same accent as you?"

This caused the Austrian man to look up and at Paul very abruptly, his blue eyes sparkling. "You saw her? You've met her?"

"I'll take that as a yes," muttered Paul to himself before saying, "Well, we didn't exactly meet her, it happened very quickly. We had just come into the lobby when we saw her trip from running out of the elevators. We helped her up, but she wasn't hurt, and she just said she had to get out of here and ran out. Poor thing looked like she'd been shot at…what did you do to her, mate?"

The Austrian man looked so heartbroken that he couldn't even try and look defensive. He turned back to the bar and rested his head on his hands. "I ruined the best thing that has happened to me in years…because I was a coward. I never planned to meet her, let alone fall completely in love with her, just before I leave the country. I can't bear losing the woman I love again. Once nearly killed me…when my wife died three years ago."

The four young men were silent for a few minutes after the Austrian man had finished. Being quite young and focused on their music right now, none of them could comprehend the thought of loving a woman so much, let alone losing them. But they could at least try to understand, especially Paul and John. Both had lost their mothers, and knew what loss was like. And George, perhaps the most intuitive of the four, tried the most to understand.

"Well, mate…it's not the Dark Ages," he said tentatively. "There are letters, telephones, and trains; they all travel very quickly these days."

"Right," said Ringo, casually twirling his drumsticks. "Just takes a little more patience and dedication."

The Austrian man gave a hollow and humorless laugh. "The only problem is that she now hates me."

"You don't know that," said Paul. "Did you physically do anything to her that crossed the line? Did you insult her in some horrible way?"

"Never!" the man cried, pounding his fists on the table again. "I could never…but not even she would be good enough to try this with some middle-aged widower who just pushed her away, like I do with everything good in my life…" With that, the man buried his face in his hands, defeated.

Paul opened his mouth to argue, but John held up a hand, silencing him. And before Paul could question him, John pointed to the keyboard with a significant look. "Why don't we try out that new song, eh, mate?"

Paul exchanged a smile with him, now knowing the plan. The other two were smiling as well, in on the plan which would hopefully have a good result. John and George readied their guitars, and Ringo looked poised.

John gave a silent countdown on his fingers and Paul began his new song on the piano.

_Hey Jude, don't make it bad._

_Take a sad song, and make it better._

_Remember to let her into your heart,_

_Then you can start to make it better._

The four young men exchanged another smile, the guitars now joining in, while Ringo tapped his two sticks together in a soft percussion.

_Hey Jude, don't be afraid:_

_You were made to go out and get her._

_The minute you let her under your skin,_

_Then you begin to make it better._

None of them looked at the Austrian man, not wanting to make it obvious what they were doing, or for him to think they were teasing him.

_And any time you feel the pain,_

_Hey Jude, refrain:_

_Don't carry the world upon your shoulder,_

_For well you know that it's a fool_

_Who plays it cool_

_By making his world a little colder._

Paul gave an excited smile to his bandmates when they joined in with some vocalizing harmonies, and they nearly giggled when they tried some 'nah nah's, but they worked. Paul entered into a new verse, doing everything but looking at the Austrian man, in awe of how much his lyrics were meant for him to hear.

_Hey Jude, don't let me down._

_You have found her, now go and get her!_

_Remember to let her into your heart, _

_Then you can start to make it better._

He nodded at John, who had sung harmony with him to great effect, and they exchanged a significant, satisfied look.

_So let it out and let it in._

_Hey Jude, begin!_

_You're waiting for someone to perform with._

_And don't you know that it's just you?_

_Hey Jude, you'll do._

_The movement you need is on your shoulders._

Paul knew now, doing the song with his three mates and actually doing it with a purpose, that this was a good one, a really good one. He had no idea where he had pulled this tune from, but it was a true treasure. So he went into the final verse with a lot of confidence.

_Hey Jude, don't make it bad. _

_Take a sad song and make it better._

_Remember to let her into your heart,_

_Then you can start to make it better…_

Movement had caught his eye and his voice faded when he did. All four of the band mates watched in shock as the Austrian man, very abruptly, got up from the bar, walked to them, dropped a generous bill into George's guitar case (as one would tip a street musician or group), and walked out with a determined and energetic stride.

The tip left the four of them in no doubt what the outcome of the song had been to the Austrian man. So the four bandmates cheered for him and for themselves, then had a jam session until dawn.

* * *

Maria thought that this must be what it felt like to be dead. At least, physically. She'd cried until she couldn't cry anymore, and now her body was spent, exhausted, both from running and from sobbing. She lay on her bed, face in the pillow, unable to move a muscle except to breathe. She didn't feel very angry anymore, but she felt very sad.

Over and over again in her mind played her memories of him, especially their last encounter. More than any other emotion, she felt heartbroken for more that one reason: that Georg did not want to care for her, that her first love had ended like this, that so many complications had gotten in the way, that she did not have the courage or was ready to share her body with the man she loved.

She wanted to call her grandmother or one of her friends to find some comfort, but it was after midnight now, and she didn't want to disrupt anyone's peaceful sleep with her problems.

Because her three friends had promised to come with her to the train station in the early morning, and because she herself would get on a train to Rouen with Jacque and his wife shortly after Georg's left, Maria concluded that she would see him at the station to at least say good-bye to him, apologize if anything she had said in anger hurt him, and thank him for the good times they had in the past week together. This idea made Maria nearly sick to her stomach, but what else could she do, if Georg didn't want anything more with her?

As she came to this reluctant conclusion, Maria thought she heard a knock at her door. When she concluded that it was only her imagination, it came again, louder. Confused and a bit disoriented, Maria got up from the bed and walked to her front door. A third knocking.

She didn't have a peephole, so she called softly through her front door, "Who is it?"

"A cowardly fool."

She knew that voice, and she'd never heard it so filled with regret before. Maria hadn't thought he would come after her, and the first reaction she felt inside was complete surprise. That surprise led her to open the door to make sure she was still not dreaming.

No. There he stood, dressed as he had been when they'd last been together. His face match the tone of his voice: pleading, desperate, scared yet resolute. His expression was so open and honest, and the fact that his tone matched that when he called himself a 'cowardly fool,' really touched the honest Maria. Her anger with him had long since taken a back seat, for reasons she still couldn't identify.

The two of them stood there looking at each other for a long minute before he spoke again. "Please, Maria. I know I don't deserve it, but I can't leave town without resolving some things between us."

Maria stepped aside, a silent invitation that he could come in. She let him in for two reasons: one, she could see that his remorse was genuine, and two, she wanted things resolved between them, too.

After she closed the door, Maria silently motioned for him to sit down at the kitchen table. He did, and she took the seat next to him and faced him, showing she was willing to listen. She stayed silent because she didn't know what to say, since she did not know what he had come here for.

Georg's hands were shaking, like he wanted to reach out and take hers, but he didn't. "Maria…I'm so sorry for what I said, and for what I asked of you. I know it wasn't fair, and I know it was selfish. I asked them because…I don't want to lose you."

Maria's breath caught in her throat at his use of the present tense, and by the strong look in his blue eyes.

"I love you, Maria," he said without apology or hesitating. "I believe I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you. I never thought I was capable of loving any woman again after Agathe, and I didn't recognize my feelings for what they were until last night. When I first met you, I thought that I had met someone who could be my friend, keep me company, remind me of my homeland but not of the memories I was running from. A distraction, for I needed one, and I'm sorry you heard that.

"Then I knew what we shared was much more profound on Wednesday, when I asked you to meet me and you took me to your special place. The fact that you were the first person I wanted to call, and that I could talk to you so freely about something I had trouble talking to anybody about…I knew what I felt for you was something deeper than friendship. But I was still afraid, both then and last night. I know what it's like to lose the person you love, and I still feel insecure about our circumstances. But I do know that I am in my right mind now, and I know what I want to ask."

Georg leaned forward slightly, emphasizing what he wanted to say. He still wanted to take her hands, it looked like, and Maria wanted to offer them to him, but she needed to hear what he wanted to ask first.

"I want us to try, Maria. We don't live in the Dark or Middle Ages. A letter takes only a few days to deliver, a telephone call takes only a minute, and there will always be a train connecting us. I know it will be hard at times, but I am in love with you, Maria Rainer, and I do not want to let you go. But it's up to you. If you're not ready, or if I've hurt you too badly, I will leave you alone. Or if you need some time, I will wait for as long as it takes."

With that, Georg was finished speaking. Maria now felt something overwhelming rise inside her, so much so that she had to get up from the table, covering her mouth with one hand. She stood at the window for a moment, so she could collect herself enough to speak. When she did, Maria turned around to face Georg, who was still sitting at the kitchen table with that vulnerable expression on his face. Hers was just as vulnerable, she knew.

She spoke in a soft, resolute voice. "No matter what agreement we come to, I will be at the train station to see you off. I want that clear, and you can take my word on that…" Her eyes caught sight of the clock, and she got a sudden inspiration. She took a deep breath and sighed, turning her eyes back to him. "It's a quarter to one, and I want to change into something more comfortable. I need to clear my head a bit. I need to breathe. If I come out of my bedroom at one, and you're still here, then we both want to try. If you leave or I don't come out, we'll have the opposite answer. All right?"

Maria's eyes pleaded with him to do this, to give them this opportunity to really think before jumping in. Georg nodded, and she nodded before disappearing into her bedroom, softly shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Those next fifteen minutes were the longest minutes in either of their lives. But finally, one o'clock came, announced by a single light chime from the clock in Maria's living room.

A few seconds after the clock chimed, the door to Maria's bedroom opened softly and she came out slowly. She had now changed into her white nightgown, covered by her blue robe. Her feet remained bare. She walked down the tiny hallway that led into her living room slowly, arms crossed and her head down, terrified of what she might not find.

When she crossed the threshold into the room, she stopped, took a shaky breath, and raised her head. Her eyes filled with tears she didn't know she still had in her, but it shouldn't have surprised her. Before she had cried tears of heartbreak and anger – now she cried tears of relief and happiness.

There he stood, facing her, for he had been waiting for her, hoping she would come out. And through her tears, she could see the same relief and happiness on his face. And, without saying a word, Georg opened his arms to her. Maria didn't hesitate, and went straight into his arms.

She let out her happy tears into his shirt, holding him tightly to her. He held her just as tightly back, kissing her head and rubbing her back soothingly. Eventually, she looked up at him, neither of their holds loosening.

"I'm so sorry," breathed Georg, looking into her eyes. "For what I asked of you, and for pushing you away."

Maria shook her head. "I know, and I can understand why you did. I'm sorry if anything I shouted at you hurt you."

Georg shook his head. "No, you were right, about everything." He reached up a hand to caress her neck. "I meant what I said, Maria, when I said that just one week with you is not enough. I've found you, and I aim to keep you, for as long as you'll have me."

Maria took that hand and tenderly kissed his palm. "I'm in love with you, Georg," she said quietly, but with all of her heart. "That means you'll have me forever."

Now Georg was the one to get tears in his eyes. He leaned down and kissed all traces of her tears away from her eyes and cheeks before pulling her closer for another hug.

Maria sighed deeply, resting her heavy head on his shoulder. Her body was beginning to give out after everything, so she asked softly, "Georg, can we sit down?"

"Of course," he said, keeping his arms around her as he led her to the couch, and when he sat down, he guided her to sit across his lap, so he could continue to hold her close. Looking at her face closely while he caressed it, he said, "You look worn out, my love."

Maria's face broke into a real smile at the term of endearment, and her cheeks flushed, chasing away the worn-out look on her face. "I'll have to get used to that."

"I hope to give you plenty of opportunities to do so," said Georg tenderly, kissing her flushed cheeks. He took a long look at her, his long fingers playing with her short, silky hair. "I've just remembered something you said…was I really the first man to kiss you?"

Poor Maria blushed even more and nodded. At the look on Georg's face she said, "Don't look so surprised. I spent most of my life from puberty onwards in a house of nuns and orphan girls; the only males I ever saw were priests and monks for a long time."

His surprised looked turned to one of humble pleasure. "Well, I'm honored, my dear. To tell you the truth, I've never been a woman's first kiss before."

"Really?" This surprised Maria. "Not even…"

"No," Georg said, shaking his head. He no longer felt pain speaking of Agathe, because he knew now that he was doing her memory justice and honor by moving on. "And believe me, she never failed to tease me about the fact that I was not the first young man who courted her with a few secret kisses."

Maria giggled, and said, "Well, then, _I'm _honored, too." A pause, then Maria blushed and buried her face in his shoulder. She groaned, "Oh, this is all so new to me…please tell me if I'm doing something wrong."

Georg laughed, hugging her tightly to him. "Believe me, darling, you're perfect to me, and will never be in any danger of me thinking that." His hand continuing to run through her hair, Georg noticed her head still on his shoulder, her eyes closed in a peaceful expression. "Do you want to get some sleep? You must be absolutely exhausted after everything."

Maria immediately opened her eyes and lifted her eyes to look at him. "No, and don't let me. I can sleep on the train to Rouen and after mass there. I'm not going to waste one second that I have with you. What about you?"

"I was planning on sleeping on the long train ride anyway," said Georg. "I won't arrive in Salzburg until the evening, so I'll have plenty of time for that." He kissed her forehead. "I don't want to waste any time, either."

* * *

So they didn't. They spent the next four hours in Maria's living room. Georg lit a fire in the fireplace and Maria lit a few candles. He found her records, putting one of Chopin on so it played softly, and Maria found a blanket for them. They laid on the couch snuggled together. Sometimes they looked through and read from Maria's Shakespeare volume, which she had left out from the afternoon just before going to the party; sometimes they just talked about everything and nothing; sometimes they didn't talk at all (though they certainly used their lips). Both had a silent agreement between them not to get sad about the upcoming separation, for both were determined and resolved about one thing now: this was not the end, but only the beginning of their love story.

This resolution remained when five o'clock came and the sun came up. They watched it together out of Maria's window before going back to the Ritz Hotel, where Georg checked out of his hotel room and picked up his luggage. They then took the same taxi to the train station, where they would meet everybody else on the platform where Georg's train would be leaving.

The two of them, walking hand-in-hand into the station, had to pass several platforms before they got to their own. At one they passed, a series of cheers and shouts caused the both of them to turn their heads at a stationary train they were passing.

Leaning out of the window were four very familiar-looking young men, with matching hair-cuts and suits. They were waving at the pair of them, smiling and cheering for them. Maria looked very surprised at this and looked at Georg, who only shot them a grateful and very satisfied expression as he wrapped an arm securely around her as they kept walking. "Thank you," he called over his shoulder once they passed them.

"What was all that about?" asked Maria, wrapping her own arm around him, repeating his gesture.

He shot her a secretive smile. "I'll tell you someday."

Shortly after that, the two of them arrived at the right platform, ten minutes before the train's departure at six thirty. They were the last to arrive as it turns out, because all of their friends were waiting for them: Jacque and his wife Hélène, Max with his own luggage, Claude, Adele, Therese, and Nicole. When the seven of them spotted the pair, they all cheered, seeing they had their arms around each other.

"So how was it having Max as your guest?" asked Georg jovially to Claude. "Did he eat you out of house and home, or am I the only one?"

Everyone laughed at that, while Max looked dramatically indignant. Claude replied innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about, Georg! Max, does that mean you don't like me as much?"

They all continued to joke like that until the conductor of the train came out and announced, "All aboard!"

This announcement sent an ice-cold dread through both Maria and Georg, but their friends were ready to distract them from it with their good-byes. Claude and Jacque embraced Georg and Max like brothers, and the four young women were touched by the sight. Then Max stepped up to Maria and kissed her cheeks. "It was wonderful to meet you," he said, then added in a softer tone. "And thank you, for saving my good friend's life."

Maria couldn't think of anything to say to that, so she merely smiled and squeezed his hands. "I plan to visit Salzburg some time in the summer, so I hope to see you again."

"Oh, of course! Any chance I get to have free access to Georg's terrific wine cellar."

"The more you come, the less free it will be," Georg mumbled, before stepping up to Maria himself for his own good-bye. Both of their friends respectively took a few steps back to give them a little privacy.

Both could feel lumps rising in their throats, but they held true to their silent vows not to let themselves be sad. Georg took both of her hands in his, wishing he could wrap her in his arms but well aware they were in public and in the company of friends who would most certainly tease them if they saw anything like that. "You'll really come to Salzburg this summer? I'll take your word on that."

"Most definitely," said Maria, speaking in the same soft tone so their friends wouldn't overhear them. "Like you said last night, there are ghosts there I want to vanquish, and I _do _want to see my homeland again, especially my mountain. And meet your children, if I can."

"Of course," said Georg. "I can't say I'm not nervous to see them again, but –"

"You will be fine," said Maria firmly. "You all will be fine, for you love each other and you're not afraid anymore. I have complete faith in you."

"Thank you," he said softly. He looked down at their joined hands. "I'll write you once I get home and tell you what happens."

"I'll look forward to it," said Maria, knowing their goodbye was nearly finished.

They shared a powerful look that said all they were feeling before Georg slowly let go of her hands after one final squeeze. "_Auf weidersein."_

"_Au revoir," _she replied, pushing her tears back fiercely.

One final smile, and then Georg turned away from them all and followed Max towards their entrance onto the train.

When Maria saw him approach that door after Max got on, something inside of her snapped. One thought ran through her mind as she rushed to him: _To hell with it!_

"Georg!" she called, and he turned around abruptly. Throwing all caution, insecurities and modesties to the wind, Maria rushed right up to him, wrapped her hand around his neck, and brought his head down to kiss him fiercely on the mouth, the first time she had initiated such a kiss. If Georg was surprised, it didn't last long, for a second later he was returning it just as fiercely, giving into his urge to hold her again.

When their lips parted, they shared a joyous smile that they had said a _proper _farewell. "_Mon amour," _ whispered in his ear. And she whispered back, "_Meine Liebe." _ One more soft kiss as the whistle blew, and then Georg finally got on the train, punching Max on the arm before his wicked smile could give way to a wicked tease. Immediately, Georg went to his suite and stuck his upper body out the window as the train began to move. As long as he could see her, his eyes never left the figure of the woman he loved, wearing a beautiful blue dress and a loving smile on her angelic face as she blew a kiss farewell, until they would meet again.

For that was the very least of what would happen between them in the future.

* * *

Maria and Gabrielle walked into what was now Maria's room in the little cottage after they had come back from 10:30 Sunday mass. She, Hélène and Jacque had arrived in Rouen just in time for it – they had eaten breakfast with Maria's friends before boarding the 9:00 train – and Gabrielle had been there to greet her granddaughter with a joyous hug at the station, seeing in her eyes all she needed to know about what had happened between Maria and her love.

"Now you must get some sleep, Maria," said Gabrielle firmly, pulling down the covers as Maria changed into her nightgown. "After being up all night, you must be dead on your feet."

"It certainly is all catching up to me now," said Maria, yawning. "I want to get as much rest as I can before taking that early train back to Paris in the morning."

Gabrielle saw something unfamiliar on the floor. "Did that drop from the pocket of your dress?" she asked.

Maria looked down to where her grandmother was pointing, and gasped. That piece of white cloth was very familiar. She picked it up and her guess was confirmed. Maria couldn't stop laughing joyously as she caressed the handkerchief that had been there at the very beginning, glad she had something of his to hold on to. She got into her bed smiling and holding the handkerchief tightly. "I know I'll have good dreams now," she said.

Gabrielle smiled and knelt by the side of her bed, caressing her beloved granddaughter's head. Maria had told her about hers and Georg's shared feelings and resolutions about their future. "I'm so proud of you, _mon ange_," she said with great emotion in her voice. "And I know my Christine is so proud of her daughter."

Maria smiled with her heavy eyelids closed as her grandmother kissed her forehead. "Sing me the lullaby, _grandmére…" _ She said, already falling asleep.

Gabrielle complied, and stroked her granddaughter's head as she sang the familiar lullaby, sending Maria into the wonderful dreams of her sea captain, the man she loved and who loved her in return, she had hoped for, after one final, happy thought:

_It's all just beginning…_

* * *

Georg felt dizzy with emotion and happiness as he climbed the stairs of his home.

True to his word, he had slept the whole journey back to Salzburg while Max amused himself by talking to people. He was in for a true surprise when the train arrived and the two of them got off. Waiting for Georg were six of his seven children, all looking nervous but hopeful. Max had smiled at Georg, telling him silently that this was his doing. Georg had approached them just as nervously with a timid smile, and in the next moment the walls were destroyed and he embraced his children who eagerly embraced him back. This was truly a moment too beautiful to describe in words.

But one of his children had been missing: Marta. Her fever was gone, but she still felt weak and so Frau Schmidt had told her she must stay in bed. So Georg made his first destination when he got home her room, his children following behind, eager to see little Marta smile again after a week of sickness.

When he came to the door, Georg knocked softly on it and didn't enter until he heard the tiny, weak voice call, "Come in!" He obeyed, and his heart filled when he saw little Marta sitting up in bed. She still looked pale and tired, but her eyes were sparkling with shyness, life and hope when she saw her father come in and walk to her.

"Hello, Father," she said quietly.

Georg knelt beside her bed, while the other six children stayed by the doorway, silent witnesses to the final reunion that would complete the circle. "Hello, sweetheart," he said. Slowly, so as not to frighten her, Georg reached out a hand and touched her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, Father," she replied, leaning into the almost unfamiliar but very comforting touch. "I don't feel hot anymore."

"Good," said Georg, who indeed felt no fever, which relieved him. "And I brought something for you that will make you feel even better. A gift from an angel, to be exact." Georg then opened his suitcase that he had brought in with him, and pulled out the doll Maria had so selflessly given.

Marta's eyes lit up at the sight of the doll and eagerly held out her arms for it. She embraced it immediately, saying, "It looks like me! She's perfect."

Georg smiled, and lifted Marta's chin so he could look at her. "You're so brave, Marta, and so strong," he said, and looked to her siblings. "You all are. And I'm so…so unbelievably proud…of all of you. I know it may take a while, but from today on, I will make amends to each and everyone of you, and try my best to be the father you deserve, and be worthy of your love." He finished his speech looking at Marta.

Tears came to her brown eyes. "Oh, Papa…" she said, and hugged him. He embraced her back just as strongly, tears streaming down his cheeks that he was not ashamed of. The rest of the children came into the room, joining in the embrace and crying with joy, too. It was a moment straight from God to the once-broken-now-healed family.

And the first thing Georg did after putting his seven beloved offspring to bed was fulfill his promise: write to the woman he loved and who loved him in return, the one who had saved him from the darkness and brought him back to the light.

_It's all just beginning…_

FIN

* * *

**A/N: **_And so it ends. Not sure if I want to write a sequel or not, and if I do, it won't be for a while. I have a lot of other story ideas I want to get out first. Thanks to all who have read and reviewed, it means so much to me!_


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